Section 42

Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Part may be arrested without warrant by any police officer or authorised officer and taken before a Magistrate’s Court.

Despite subsection (1) or any other written law for the time being in force, any police officer or authorised officer, who, having effected an arrest in accordance with subsection (1), is satisfied as to the identity, name and place of residence of the person arrested, may, instead of taking that person before a Magistrate’s Court or to a police station serve upon that person a notice in any form that may be prescribed under section 108 requiring that person to attend at the Court described at the hour and on the date specified in the notice.

For the purpose of satisfying himself or herself as to the identity of the person arrested, the police officer or authorised officer may require the person arrested to furnish such evidence of identity as the officer may consider necessary.

A duplicate of the notice served under subsection (2) must be prepared by the police officer or authorised officer (as the case may be) and produced by him or her to a Magistrate’s Court if so required by the Court.

On an accused person appearing before a Magistrate’s Court pursuant to the notice, the Court is to take cognizance of the offence alleged and is to proceed as though he or she were produced before it under subsection (1).

If a person upon whom a notice under subsection (2) has been served fails to appear before a Magistrate’s Court in accordance with the notice, the Court is to thereupon issue a warrant for the arrest of that person.

Upon a person arrested pursuant to a warrant issued under subsection (6) being produced before it, a Magistrate’s Court is to —

Any stall, together with any appliances and utensils relating thereto and the food or goods intended or exposed for sale, whether or not they appear to be abandoned, belonging or appearing to belong to or in the possession of a person appearing to be committing or to have committed an offence under this Part may be seized by any police officer or authorised officer and removed to and detained in any police station or any other place that may be approved by the Director‑General, Food Administration at the risk of the owner, to abide the directions of a Magistrate’s Court.

If any money is found, together with any food, articles, appliances or utensils seized under subsection (8), the money is deemed to be lawfully seized.

Any money seized under subsection (9) if it is claimed within 48 hours after the seizure by the owner of the money must be returned to the owner whether or not the owner is licensed under this Part.

Any cooked or uncooked food or perishable articles or goods, seized and removed under subsection (8) and likely to decay may be disposed of immediately.

If any abandoned articles or goods so seized and detained, other than cooked or uncooked food or perishable articles or goods already disposed of, are claimed within 48 hours after the seizure by the owner thereof (being a person licensed or otherwise lawfully entitled to set up or sell the articles or goods at the place at which the articles or goods were seized), the abandoned articles or goods must be returned to the owner.

Every seizure must, except when the articles, goods or money have been returned to the owner, be reported to a Magistrate’s Court.

The Magistrate’s Court is, on convicting any person of an offence under section 41A(1) or on receiving a report in respect of any abandoned articles which were apparently being used in connection with the sale of food or goods, to order the property seized under subsection (8) to be forfeited and to be disposed of in any manner that the Court may think fit.

The Magistrate’s Court may, on receiving a report in respect of any abandoned articles which were not apparently being used in connection with the sale of food or goods, order the property seized under subsection (8) to be forfeited and to be disposed of in any manner that the Court thinks fit.

If the Magistrate’s Court directs the sale of any article, the proceeds or such part of the proceeds as the Court may think fit must be paid to the Singapore Food Agency and the balance (if any) paid to the owner.

The Magistrate’s Court may, on convicting any person for an offence under section 41A(1), order any money seized under subsection (9) to be returned to the person if the person satisfies the Court that the person is the owner of the money.

The Magistrate’s Court —

This section applies, with the necessary modifications, to any person who contravenes any regulations made under this Act for the control of matters under this Part.