Bombay High Court slams FDA over food checks, orders fresh inspections of canteens

The Bombay High Court questioned the Maharashtra FDA for treating private restaurants and government canteens differently during food safety inspections. It ordered fresh checks and said the law must be enforced uniformly, with no exceptions for VVIP establishments.

In Short

• A lawyers' panel found gaps between official findings and canteen conditions
• Poornima Restaurant challenged its licence suspension, alleging procedural lapses by officials
• The Mantralaya canteen was assessed highly despite concerns over refrigeration

The Bombay High Court has come down heavily on the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over what it called a “partial” approach to food safety inspections, questioning why private restaurants face suspension while government canteens receive far more lenient treatment.

In its latest hearing on Monday, the court directed the FDA to convert suspension notices issued to four petitioning eating establishments into “improvement notices”, after a four-member lawyers’ committee found discrepancies between the regulator’s inspection report of government canteens and what it saw on the ground.

The court had ordered fresh inspections of the restaurants and the Mantralaya canteen last Wednesday, after giving the establishments time until Tuesday to comply with food safety requirements.

The development is the latest turn in a dispute that began with the FDA's statewide crackdown on food establishments, which has seen the licences of nearly 100 food outlets suspended.

HC QUESTIONS DIFFERENT STANDARDS

The bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing pleas filed by Poornima Restaurant, a six-decade-old Udupi eatery in south Mumbai, and other food establishments challenging the suspension of their licences.

The court questioned why Poornima Restaurant faced suspension over hygiene concerns and a reported 37 per cent compliance, while the Mantralaya canteen, which the FDA had assessed at 98 per cent compliance, was issued only an improvement notice.

“Either suspend the licence of the Mantralaya canteen or restore Poornima restaurant’s licence. We want parity,” Acting Chief Justice Ghuge orally observed.

The court also made clear that government establishments could not be treated differently.

“The law has to be enforced impartially and no litigant before the court should feel that private commercial establishments are meted out with different standards of inspection than statutory establishments,” the court said.

It also remarked that “medication should not be worse than the disease” while stressing that food safety rules must be enforced uniformly.

The court added that “none, especially VVIPs, are above the law”.

LAWYERS FIND GAPS IN FDA REPORT

The court had constituted a four-member committee of lawyers to inspect the Maharashtra government's Mantralaya and Vidhan Bhavan canteens after the FDA claimed that its inspection had found no fly or insect at the Mantralaya premises and recorded 98 per cent compliance.

The committee comprised advocates Ganu, Kainaz Irani, Feroze Bharucha and Surya Samrat.

The lawyers submitted their report after 3 pm on Friday, with their findings pointing to a disparity between the FDA's assessment and what they witnessed during their inspection.

The report raised concerns including poor refrigeration facilities at the government canteens, despite the FDA's near-total compliance assessment.

The court also questioned the time taken for inspections, pointing out that checks at private establishments lasted several hours while inspections at government canteens were completed in significantly less time.

The bench directed FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe to review the inspection reports of the state-run canteens, calling the earlier inspections, which were conducted in around 30 to 40 minutes, unreliable.

FDA BACKS DOWN ON SUSPENSION NOTICES

Following the court's intervention, the FDA informed the bench that the suspension notices issued to Poornima Restaurant would be treated as show-cause or improvement notices.

Similar notices will be issued to the Mantralaya canteens.

The court has now given all the establishments time until Tuesday to address the food safety concerns, with fresh inspections scheduled for Wednesday.

The latest order marks a significant shift from the FDA's earlier enforcement action, which had led to licence suspensions across Maharashtra.

HOW THE FDA CRACKDOWN REACHED THE HIGH COURT

The dispute comes against the backdrop of an intensified FDA crackdown that began earlier this month across Maharashtra. Nearly 100 food outlets have had their licences suspended since the drive began.

On July 29, the Bombay High Court had already questioned the FDA's approach while hearing a plea by Navi Mumbai's Park Inn by Radisson after its licence was suspended following a surprise inspection.

During that hearing, the court asked when a food safety lapse justified suspension and questioned whether the FDA was taking a similar approach towards its own institutions.

“We are in India, you have to take a realistic stand,” Acting Chief Justice Ghuge told government pleader Neha Bhide, who was representing the FDA.

The remark came after a fly appeared before the bench during the hearing.

The court had also asked whether surprise inspections were being carried out at government establishments and the High Court canteen. The FDA said the BMC canteen's licence had been suspended and that the Mantralaya canteen had also been raided and its licence suspended the previous year.

The court then sought a check of government canteens and a report.

POORNIMA CHALLENGES FDA ACTION

Poornima Restaurant, located near the High Court, subsequently approached the court against the FDA's action.

The restaurant alleged procedural irregularities, claiming that FDA officials acted in a high-handed manner, manipulated records and failed to follow the procedure prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards Act before suspending its licence.

The restaurant's challenge became part of the broader judicial scrutiny of the FDA's enforcement methods.

The court's latest intervention has now put the focus not only on whether food establishments comply with safety norms, but also on whether the regulator applies the same standards while inspecting private businesses and government-run canteens.

The restaurants and government canteens will face fresh inspections on Wednesday, when the court is expected to consider whether the deficiencies have been addressed and whether the FDA's enforcement action meets the standard of impartiality demanded by the bench.

- Ends
With inputs from Vidya.