The Bombay High Court on Friday refused urgent relief to a Thane eatery facing regulatory action for serving banned analogue paneerobserving that the establishment must endure the same suffering it had allegedly caused unsuspecting customers by serving them food they believed was genuine paneer.
In a sharp rebuke, the court told the restaurant, “You need to suffer first as you have made people suffer by eating this. This is poetic justice”.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam A Ankhad was hearing a plea filed by Udupi Swaad Restaurant in Wagle Estate, Thane (West), challenging the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration’s August 11 order suspending its Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence.
The restaurant argued that the FDA had taken action without first issuing an improvement notice under Section 32 of the Food Safety and Standards Act.
It claimed that the suspension had caused substantial financial and reputational losses and sought interim relief from the High Court.
The bench, however, questioned whether the restaurant had informed customers through its menu that the paneer being served was an analogue or non-dairy product.
The court took a strong view of the alleged failure to disclose the nature of the food being served.
“Have you advertised in your menu card and indicated to customers you are serving them analog paneer? You are making people eat something rotten and you are saying an improvement notice should be given to you?” Acting CJ Ghuge observed.
The court also questioned how customers could be expected to know what they were consuming when the substitute was presented as paneer.
“You are making people eat something rotten by making them believe that it is paneer and you are saying improvement notice should be given to you? Why don’t you advertise on your signboard that original food is not available with us,” it said.
The petitioner assured the bench that it would not use analogue paneer in the future. The court nevertheless declined to grant immediate relief and asked the FDA to respond to the plea.
“Let FDA reply come by September 2 and suffer till then. You also need to suffer first as you have made people suffer by eating this… Poetic justice,” Acting CJ Ghuge said.
FDA CRACKDOWN ON ADULTERATED ITEMS
The action against the restaurant came after a laboratory examination in June found its paneer sample to be unsafe and substandard.
The FDA also relied on a July 30 statewide order issued by Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe banning the manufacture, processing, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of analogue or non-dairy paneer in Maharashtra.
The ban was introduced amid an intensified crackdown on synthetic and adulterated dairy products.
Violations can attract imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh, while the law provides for harsher punishment where consumption of unsafe food results in death.
Analogue paneer is generally made using non-dairy ingredients such as vegetable fats or oils, starches and other additives.
While such products can be permitted under national regulations when properly disclosed and labelled, Maharashtra has imposed a blanket prohibition on their manufacture and sale.
The High Court directed the FDA to file its reply, with the matter posted for further hearing on September 7.
The restaurant’s plea for relief will therefore depend on the regulator’s response and the court’s assessment of the legality of the suspension.
– Ends
With PTI inputs
Source link
[ad_3]
