Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has accused Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials of threatening hotels, restaurants and quick-commerce businesses with licence suspensions to extort money from them, alleging that bribe demands for withdrawing closure notices have risen sharply in recent months.
Raut made the allegations in a letter to FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. The Rajya Sabha MP claimed that the rates for “closing notices” had risen from ₹12,000 to ₹75,000, and in some cases as much as ₹2 lakh, since the 51-year-old IAS officer took charge in May, with businesses fearing strict action.
The allegations come amid an aggressive, statewide enforcement drive by the FDA under Mundhe, targeting hygiene violations, food adulteration, and unsafe products.
Deep Dive
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Raut has now alleged that the FDA’s designated officers, assistant commissioners and food safety officers were misusing their powers to intimidate businesses. He claimed that several business owners from Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Pune, Solapur, Wardha and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had approached him with complaints about closure notices and demands for money.
Citing an instance in Thane, without naming the company or officials involved, Raut alleged that two FDA designated officers had collected ₹17-18 lakh from a quick-commerce company to restore its suspended licence. He also claimed that some licences had been suspended following social media posts alleging the presence of rats at establishments, even though officials did not actually find any rodents during inspection.
“You (Mundhe) say that the system is improving. But if there is no control over your own officers, this improvement remains incomplete,” Raut wrote in his letter.
Responding to the allegations, Mundhe told HT: “We have a zero-tolerance policy for corruption. If Raut shares concrete information about incidents of blackmailing by FDA officials, I will look into the matter and take strict action against those found guilty.”