HC quashes case against Britannia Dairy over fungal cheese cubes

A single-judge bench of Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale observed that the delay in issuing notice, the non-supply of the laboratory testing report, the consequent deprivation of the applicant’s statutory right to have the food sample tested by a referral laboratory and to file an appeal render the continuation of the proceedings entirely untenable

MUMBAI: A case against Britannia Dairy Pvt Ltd over cheese cubes reported to be infested with fungus has been quashed by the Bombay high court after it found that food safety authorities issued notice to the company nearly six months after the product’s shelf life had ended, leaving it unable to exercise its statutory right to seek a referral laboratory test.

HC quashes case against Britannia Dairy over fungal cheese cubes.

A single-judge bench of Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale observed that the delay in issuing notice, the non-supply of the laboratory testing report, the consequent deprivation of the applicant’s statutory right to have the food sample tested by a referral laboratory and to file an appeal render the continuation of the proceedings entirely untenable.

“Allowing the criminal proceedings to continue in their present form would amount to a clear abuse of the process of the Court”, it held.

The case began in July 2013, when a food safety officer visited a Big Bazaar outlet at R City Mall in Ghatkopar West and purchased four packets of Britannia cheese cubes for testing. The food analyst’s report, dated August 14, 2013, said the product was infested with fungus and was unsafe under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act.

The product was packed on February 12, 2013, with a nine-month shelf life that ended on November 12, 2013. Britannia Dairy, named as the marketer on the label, received notice only on May 17, 2014- nearly six months after the product had ceased to be within its shelf life.

The company moved the high court after a magistrate court in July 2014 issued process against it based on the food safety officer’s complaint. The proceedings remained pending since 2018.

Britannia’s senior counsel Aabad Ponda argued that since the notice was issued after the expiry of the product’s shelf life, the company could not exercise its rights under the FSS rules to have the fourth part of sample analysed by an accredited laboratory. He also submitted that the food analyst’s report was not supplied to Britannia despite a request, preventing it from filing an appeal.

Additional public prosecutor Yogesh Dabke, appearing for the state, argued that the company was trying to avoid criminal liability for distributing unsafe food and violating licence conditions. He said the analyst’s report had confirmed fungal infestation and Britannia could not shift responsibility to the manufacturer.

The court, however, held that a marketer named on a food product’s label is entitled to receive notice when a sample is collected and proposed to be sent for analysis.

Since the notice to Britannia was issued after the product had expired, the bench held that the company had lost its statutory opportunity to seek analysis of the sample by a referral laboratory. The court also found that the non-supply of the analyst’s report denied the company its right of preferring an appeal.

IHolding that the food safety officer had “clearly failed to comply with the statutory provisions of the FSS Act”, the court quashed the criminal proceedings against Britannia Dairy.