Maggi
The Supreme Court today sought a response from Nestle and the Maharashtra government on an FSSAI plea seeking a stay of the Bombay high court order prohibiting food testing by government labs not accredited under new food safety law.
An apex court bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C Pant also issued notice on a FSSAI plea for putting the sale of Maggi on hold as it was a proprietary product and it’s sale was contrary to the Section 22 of the FSSAI Act.
However, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that FSSAI for now was not pressing for this prayer.
The court directed the hearing of the matter on 16 January as Nestle, represented by the senior counsel Harish Salve, said that it would file its response by 5 January.
The apex consumer court on Tuesday said “unending testing of Maggi samples cannot go on”, following the Rs 640-crore class action suit filed by the government against Nestle India.
A bench of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), comprising Justice VK Jain and Justice BC Gupta, reserved its order on the decision on the tests.
The bench said it would decide later on the fresh tests on 31 samples of Maggi noodles, as requested by the government counsel on Monday.
Although the bench agreed in principle to have tested the 31 samples, identified by the government counsel, it reserved the order and said the decision would be made later.
The court would also decide in future regarding where the 31 samples would be tested, if at all fresh tests are called for.
Nestle Maggi’s comeback was challenged in the Supreme Court yesterday by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), reported The Economic Times.
The FSSAI has filed an appreal against the Bombay high court order that had lifted the ban that was imposed over five months ago on the popular noodle brand in India. The ban was imposed due to the alleged presence of lead in the noodles, making them unfit for human consumption.
FSSAI chairman and CEO Ashish Bahuguna was quoted by Economic Times as saying, “We have appealed in the Supreme Court on two accounts, one is the allegation that our officials acted against the system of natural justice and second the validity of operations of our labs. Our labs follow provisions as stated in the FSS Act and a question on them will bring all our enforcement to a standstill putting the safety of consumers under risk.”
The FSSAI, in the Supreme Court, has challenged the “sanctity” of the samples provided to the government-approved labs for the re-test. Nestle suffered losses of Rs 450 crores due to the destruction of already produced and distributed Maggi, and due to the ban on it since June.
The government had also filed a first-of-its-kind suit for damages of Rs 640 crores against Maggi before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), as reported by Legally India
Nestle resumed manufacturing the product after tests done on all fresh Maggi samples by government approved labs, as authorised by the Bombay high court, declared it safe. It is still awaiting clearances to make Maggi at its Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh plants, it was reported.
The apex consumer court on Monday served a notice on Nestle India over the government’s Rs.640-crore unfair trade practice class action suit related to Maggi noodles and fixed 30 September as the next date of hearing.
The Bombay high court has ruled for Nestle India’s Maggi noodles today, quipping: “Even though it’s a 2-minute noodles, it took us a lot of time.”
The Indian government has filed a Rs 640 crore class action on behalf of consumers with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against Nestle India under section 12(1D) of the Consumer Protection Act.