HC refuses relief to Thane restaurant accused of serving analogue paneer

The restaurant claimed that its licence was suspended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through an automated portal notification on August 11, without any improvement notice, non-compliance report or opportunity of hearing

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant relief to a Thane-based restaurant whose Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence was suspended for allegedly serving analogue or non-diary paneer to customers.

HC refuses relief to Thane restaurant accused of serving analogue paneer

“You’re making people eat something rotten. Why don’t you advertise on your sign board that you sell analogue paneer and that original food is not sold at your restaurant,” a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad said while hearing a petition filed by Udupi Swaad restaurant, challenging the suspension of its FSSAI licence.

The restaurant claimed that its licence was suspended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through an automated portal notification on August 11, without any improvement notice, non-compliance report or opportunity of hearing.

According to the petition, food safety officers visited the restaurant on June 11, examined its purchase records and concluded that it had purchased analogue paneer and was using it in various dishes and selling them as paneer-based preparations.

Meanwhile, on July 3, FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe issued a notification prohibiting the manufacture, processing, preparation, packing, storage, distribution, and wholesale and retail sale of analogue paneer marketed as paneer across the state.

During the hearing on Friday, advocate Vishal Hegde, appearing for the restaurant, argued that the FDA notification was, by its own terms, prospective in operation, having come into force only on July 30, nearly seven weeks after the date of sampling at the restaurant. Yet, the restaurant was compelled to close down after its FSSAI licence was suspended, resulting in loss of livelihood, besides irreparable loss of business, goodwill and reputation, the lawyer said.

Assistant government pleader Vikrant Parashurami, appearing for the FDA, submitted that the refractometer reading of the extracted fat was found to be 51.67 as against the prescribed range of 40-44, suggesting the presence of added foreign fat.

The court noted that though no formal compliance report was prepared, the FSSAI licence of the restaurant was suspended. But it also questioned the rationale behind the restaurant selling “fake products” to customers and compromising their safety, saying, “Just for a little price difference, you do this.”

Refusing relief to the restaurant, the court said, “Suffer for some time. You made people suffer by eating this, then you must also suffer. No interim relief for you. If you make people eat this without indicating what it actually is, you should be penalised. All customers should go to the consumer forum and seek damages against such restaurants.”

The court directed the FDA to record its response to the plea and scheduled the next hearing on September 10.