The prosecution has no case that on the date of the alleged seizure and arrest of the accused i.e., on 18/2/2000 the Assistant Excise Inspectors in the Excise Department were empowered to exercise the powers under Sections 40 to 53 of the Abkari Act. This Court had occasion to consider the above position and in the decision reported in Sasidharan Vs. State of Kerala [2012 (2) KLT 392] , this Court has held that the Assistant Excise Inspectors of Excise Department were authorised to exercise the powers under Sections 40 to 53 only with effect from 08/05/2009 as per SRO No.361 of 2009 dated 08/5/2009. Thus it is crystal clear that on the date of the alleged incident, in the present case, the Assistant Excise Inspectors of Excise Department were not authoritised or empowered to exercise the powers under Sections 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39 & 53 of the Abkari Act. The seizure and arrest effected by PW.1 being the Assistant Excise Inspector at the relevant time render as inadmissible and illegal and therefore on that ground the appellant is entitled to get an acquittal.
