The apex consumer court on Monday issued notice to Nestle India limited on a `640-crore suit against it by the Centre for alleged unfair trade practices and other charges pertaining to Maggi noodles and directed the Government to test the samples afresh at accredited labs.
A bench of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission headed by Justice V K Jain admitted the Centre’s plea which also accused the company of false labelling and giving misleading advertisements.Taking note of Bombay High Court’s August 13 judgement quashing the orders of the Indian food regulators banning the nine variants of instant noodles in the country, the bench directed the Centre to test samples afresh by “accredited labs”.
“High Court has quashed your (Centre’s) order on the ground that laboratory were not accredited and recognised.... Second, you did not follow correct procedure,” the bench said, adding that “you (Centre) have to satisfy whether you had followed the right procedure” in procuring the reports.