The Bombay High Court has directed Thane-based Udupi Swaad Restaurant to first appeal to the Commissioner of Food Safety against the suspension of its food licence, leaving the restaurant without immediate relief from the action taken by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna passed the direction on September 16, observing that the restaurant should use the statutory appellate remedy available to it before seeking intervention from the High Court. The development was reported by The Hindu on September 18.
The dispute follows an FDA inspection at the restaurant in Thane, during which food safety officers collected a sample of loose paneer for laboratory analysis. According to the FDA’s submissions, a government laboratory found that the sample contained foreign fat instead of dairy-based ingredients and classified it as “unsafe” under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The FDA further told the court that its investigation found the restaurant had purchased “cheese analogue” in the name of paneer and used it in paneer-based dishes without informing customers about the substitution. The Assistant Commissioner and Designated Officer, Thane, subsequently ordered the immediate suspension of the restaurant’s food licence.
The restaurant challenged the suspension, arguing that the FDA had acted without first issuing an improvement notice and without passing a reasoned suspension order. Its petition sought the High Court’s intervention against the regulatory action.
The case had come before the court earlier on August 21, when a Bench comprising then Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad issued notice to the State and the FDA and directed them to file their reply. The publicly available order does not record a final finding on the merits of the alleged food-safety violation.
During the earlier hearing, however, the Bench orally criticised the restaurant over the allegation that customers had been served analogue paneer without being informed and declined to grant immediate relief. The observation was made in the context of the allegation and does not amount to a final adjudication of the case.
At the September 16 hearing, counsel appearing for the FDA submitted that the restaurant could appeal the suspension before the Food Safety Commissioner. The High Court then directed the restaurant to pursue that remedy first and left open the possibility of approaching the court after the statutory process.
