Sections 42 and 43 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Most penalties in the Act bind traders, packers and importers. Sections 42 and 43 bind the enforcers. Section 42 punishes an officer who searches or seizes knowing there are no reasonable grounds. Section 43 punishes an officer who wilfully verifies or stamps a weight or measure in breach of the Act or rules. Neither section is amended by the 2023 or the 2026 Jan Vishwas Act.
Section 42: the Director, the Controller or any legal metrology officer who knows there are no reasonable grounds and yet searches a house, conveyance or place, searches a person, or seizes any weight, measure or other movable property is punishable, for every such offence, with imprisonment up to one year, or fine up to Rs 10,000, or both. Section 43: the Controller or any legal metrology officer who wilfully verifies or stamps in contravention of the Act or rules is punishable in the same way. Neither section is amended by the Jan Vishwas Acts of 2023 or 2026, and neither is on the compounding list.
Why these sections exist
Section 15 gives officers wide powers of inspection, search and seizure. Sections 42 and 43 are the counterweight: the powers are for lawful enforcement, and an officer who abuses them is himself liable. They matter to a trader who has been searched, because they show what the Act says about a search without grounds. They do not stop a search from going ahead, and they do not make a trader's own breach disappear. For a search or seizure that you think lacked grounds, early legal consultation helps decide whether the route is a reply, an appeal or a complaint.
Read this with section 15, which sets out the powers, and section 40, which punishes those who obstruct an officer acting lawfully.
Section 42: vexatious search
The text: the Director, the Controller or any legal metrology officer, "exercising powers under this Act or any rule made thereunder, who knows that there are no reasonable grounds for so doing, and yet" does any of three things:
| Limb | Act done |
|---|---|
| (a) | Searches, or causes to be searched, any house, conveyance or place |
| (b) | Searches any person |
| (c) | Seizes any weight, measure or other movable property |
Punishment: "for every such offence", imprisonment up to one year, or fine up to Rs 10,000, or both.
Key features:
- Knowledge is the test. The officer must know there are no reasonable grounds. A search that later turns up nothing is not, by that fact, vexatious. A search that the officer knew to be baseless is.
- Every limb is separate. "For every such offence" means each search or seizure can be charged separately.
- Seizure reaches "other movable property", not just weights and measures, which is wider than section 15 seizure of instruments and packages.
- The Director is included. Section 42 names the Director as well as the Controller and officers; section 43 does not.
- The section does not say who may complain, or how an aggrieved trader proceeds. It does not name a court or a procedure; read it with the State's rules and the general criminal law, and note section 51.
Section 43: wilful wrong verification
The text: "Where the Controller or any legal metrology officer exercising powers under this Act or any rule made thereunder, wilfully verifies or stamps any weight or measure, in contravention of the provisions of this Act or of any rule made thereunder, he shall, for every such offence, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both."
- Who: the Controller or any legal metrology officer. The Director is not named in section 43.
- Wilfully: deliberate wrong verification or stamping, not a mere error. The Act does not define the word.
- For every such offence: each wrongly verified or stamped instrument can count separately.
- Comparison with section 37(2): a Government approved Test Centre's owner or employee who wilfully verifies or stamps in breach faces the same punishment; see section 37. The duty to verify is in section 24.
The three layers
| Layer | Sections 42 and 43 |
|---|---|
| 1. As enacted in 2010 | Imprisonment up to one year, or fine up to Rs 10,000, or both, for every offence |
| 2. Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 (in force; item 40) | Not amended. The item lists sections 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35 and 48 |
| 3. Jan Vishwas Act, 2026 (Act 8 of 2026; in force only from the date the Central Government notifies; item 66) | Not amended. The item lists sections 25 to 32, 34 to 41, 45 to 48 and does not list sections 42 or 43 |
One 2026 change sits close to section 42 without amending it: the new section 15(5) says that any inspection, search or seizure by a legal metrology officer under section 15, made "in pursuance of a general or special order, instruction or written authorisation issued by the Director or Controller of Legal Metrology", is deemed to have been made under a lawful warrant. Once notified, a trader challenging a search would have to deal with that deeming. It does not remove the section 42 test, since section 42 turns on the officer's knowledge of the absence of reasonable grounds, but the amending text does not say how the two fit together. Check the notification.
Compounding and appeals
Neither section is in the compounding list in section 48 (sections 25, 27 to 39, 41, 45 to 47, and rules under section 52(3), after the 2023 Act), and section 48(6) bars compounding except as that section provides. Section 50(1) does not list sections 42 or 43, so the appeal provision is not aimed at these offences either. Mentioning that helps set expectations: these are matters for prosecution, not for compounding.
The Act cites the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in section 51; from 1 July 2024 those were replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
What to do if you think a search was vexatious
| Step | Why |
|---|---|
| Ask for the officer's identity and the written order or authorisation, and note them | Shows what grounds were claimed |
| Do not obstruct | Obstruction is itself an offence under section 40 |
| Take a copy of the search list or seizure list and note any property beyond weights and measures | Section 42(c) reaches "other movable property" |
| Keep photographs or CCTV of the search | Evidence of how it was carried out |
| Seek advice on whether to reply, appeal under section 50 where available, or complain | The Act does not itself lay down a complaint route for section 42 |
Example 1. An officer, angry after a dispute with a shopkeeper, seizes the shop's cash box and some unrelated goods, knowing that no breach has been found. The seizure of "other movable property" without reasonable grounds falls within section 42(c).
Example 2. An officer stamps a batch of scales as verified without testing them, to help a known dealer. That is wilful wrong verification; section 43 applies to him.
Need help after a search or seizure?
If you believe a search or seizure was made without grounds, or an instrument was wrongly stamped, the first step is to document what happened. Our legal consultation service can help you read the seizure papers and decide on the route. Bring the order, the seizure list and any photographs.
Key takeaways
- Section 42 punishes the Director, Controller or legal metrology officer who searches or seizes knowing there are no reasonable grounds.
- Section 43 punishes the Controller or a legal metrology officer who wilfully verifies or stamps contrary to the Act or rules.
- Both carry imprisonment up to one year, or fine up to Rs 10,000, or both, for every offence.
- Neither is amended by the 2023 or 2026 Jan Vishwas Act; the 2026 Act adds a deemed-warrant rule in section 15(5).
- Neither section is compoundable.
Read next
- Section 15 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009: Inspection, search and seizure
- Section 41 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009: Penalty for false information or return
- Section 44 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009: Counterfeiting of seals and stamps
- Legal Metrology Officers -- Powers of Inspection
Disclaimer: Based on the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (Act 1 of 2010) as enacted, read with the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (in force) and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 (in force only from the date the Central Government notifies); sections 42 and 43 are not amended by either Act, as on 30 September 2026. State Legal Metrology rules, later amendments and notifications change; verify the current position before acting.