The Bombay High Court has directed Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to promptly revoke licence suspension or cancellation orders against establishments that have corrected food-safety deficiencies and whose compliance is confirmed through inspection or an automated report.
The order was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad while hearing a petition filed by Siddharth Agro, an establishment involved in milk chilling, storage and supply. The court also said establishments should not be forced to approach the judiciary to obtain relief from an FDA suspension after complying with the deficiencies identified by the regulator.
The bench observed that several cases before it showed a similar pattern: establishments corrected the deficiencies recorded during inspections, but the FDA did not withdraw the suspension or cancellation orders even after the original purpose of those orders had ceased to exist. The court said such inaction prevented businesses from operating and caused financial losses to establishments, employees and supply chains.
The court described the need to approach it for withdrawal of an order that was no longer effective as unjustifiable. It said such litigation could be avoided and placed an unnecessary burden on both establishments and the judiciary. The bench also remarked that establishments that had remedied food-safety deficiencies could not be subjected to an additional penalty because of FDA inaction.
The Siddharth Agro case followed an inspection of the petitioner’s premises in July, when the FDA found certain deficiencies and suspended the establishment’s licence. The establishment subsequently said it had corrected the deficiencies and asked FDA officials to reinspect the premises and withdraw the suspension if they were satisfied with the compliance.
During the hearing, government advocate Priyabhushan Kakade told the court that a subsequent inspection had found that some deficiencies remained. The petitioner, however, submitted that all the newly identified deficiencies had since been corrected and requested another inspection.
The bench directed the FDA to conduct a fresh inspection of the premises and revoke the licence suspension if the establishment had complied with the applicable regulatory requirements. It further ordered the FDA to withdraw suspension or cancellation orders promptly in all cases where establishments have properly rectified the deficiencies identified under statutory and regulatory requirements.
The court said the direction was intended to prevent a recurrence of such cases and to ensure that the statutory regulatory system operates fairly, efficiently and proportionately. The order places responsibility on the FDA to reassess the continuing basis of a suspension after compliance has been established, rather than leaving establishments to seek judicial intervention.
