The Delhi High Court has sought responses from the Centre, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Delhi government on a petition seeking a crackdown on fake paneer and similar milk-based products ahead of the festive season.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma sought the responses on Wednesday while refusing to grant interim relief to the petitioners, law student Ridhima Singh and advocate Avlokiteshwar Sidharth. The petition asks authorities to prevent dairy-analogue or non-dairy products from being manufactured, supplied or sold as paneer.
The petitioners told the court that chhena and paneer are basic components of prasad and are linked to public sentiment. They referred to enforcement measures taken in Maharashtra concerning “analogue/non-dairy paneer”, along with subsequent actions in Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. According to the petition, these measures show that the issue has been recognised by multiple statutory authorities and that preventive action can be taken under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The petition specifically seeks directions to the Delhi government and its food safety commissioner to conduct a special enforcement drive during the festive season. The proposed action includes inspections, sampling and testing of paneer at manufacturing units and other establishments, followed by action against operators whose products do not conform to prescribed requirements.
The petitioners had also sought interim directions requiring state authorities to complete a specified amount of sampling before Dussehra and Diwali. They argued that the matter was time-sensitive and that delay could cause “grave injustice”. The court, however, did not grant the interim relief at this stage.
The plea identifies hotels, restaurants, caterers, cloud kitchens and e-commerce food businesses as areas requiring particular attention. It argues that when consumers see paneer listed on a menu or online platform, they may have no practical way to determine whether the product supplied is genuine, especially because the original packaging remains with the food-service establishment.
The petition describes Mumbai and Maharashtra as a comparable metropolitan market whose regulatory experience should be considered by Delhi’s food-safety administration. It has asked the authorities to respond to the broader request for inspections and enforcement, including against products that look and taste like paneer but are not disclosed as substitutes.
The next step in the case is the filing of responses by the Centre, FSSAI and the Delhi government before the High Court considers the petition further.
