Nestlé India ltd heaved a huge sigh of relief on Thursday as the Bombay High Court (HC) on Thursday quashed two Indian food regulators’ orders banning nine variants of its instant noodles Maggi, after holding that the principles of natural justice had not been followed in the noodle manufacturer’s case.
Hearing its petition challenging the ban imposed on the nine variants of Maggi noodles by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Maharashtra’s Food and Drugs Administration department (FDA), a HC division Bench of Justices VM Kanade and BP Colabawala asked Nestlé India to seek fresh testing of five samples of each variant of noodles in three independent laboratories in Punjab, Hyderabad and Jaipur.
The three laboratories, which are accredited with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration laboratories, have been set a six-week deadline to submit their test reports.
The HC Bench allowed Nestlé India to take samples out of the 750 samples it had preserved after the ban imposed on June 5. “If the lead content is found below permissible limits by the three labs, Nestlé India will be allowed to manufacture Maggi noodles,” the two judges noted.
The judges held that Nestlé India’s plea challenging the nationwide ban on Maggi noodles was maintainable and that HC had the jurisdiction to hear it under powers derived by it under Article 226 of the Constitution.
In what came as some sort of a vindication for Nestlé India, the court held that principles of natural justice were not followed in the case of the firm, which was not given a hearing before imposing a ban on its products. Welcoming the HC’s order Nestlé India said it would comply with the verdict.
“Nestlé India respects the decision made on August 13 by the Bombay HC to revoke the ban order passed by the FSSAI and FDA, Maharashtra, on Maggi noodles and will comply with the order to undertake fresh tests,” the company said in a statement. “Nestlé India remains committed to working with FSSAI, FDA Maharashtra and other stakeholders,” the company elaborated.
In its revision application seeking quashing of a ban on its products, Nestlé India had claimed that the impugned orders do not comply with the mandatory provisions of Section 34 of Food Safety and Standards Authority Act which deals with Emergency prohibition notices and orders. Its plea said the orders were passed without any authority and without following due process of law.
Holding that the laboratories, where tests conducted earlier to determine lead content in Maggi, were not authorised, the HC Bench declined to grant a stay on their order on a plea made by food regulators.
The judges said Nestlé India had given an undertaking that it would not manufacture or sell Maggi noodles till the receipt of the test reports from the three laboratories. “The fresh tests would also take some time. Hence, there was no need to grant a stay on the order,” the judges said.
At the previous hearing held on July 31, Nestlé India had informed the HC Bench that it was ready for an independent laboratory test of the samples of its product available with the company, provided the tests were carried out in the presence of a reputed scientist.
Nestlé India made a conditional offer for an independent laboratory test of its product, while responding to a query from the two judges. Darius Khambata, appearing for FSSAI and the Maharashtra FDA, had sought a few days’ time to seek instructions from his clients.
At the earlier hearing held on July 17, Nestlé India had argued before the HC Bench that the presence of lead beyond the permissible limit in a certain batch of its food product was no justification for the blanket ban imposed on nine variants of its instant noodles from the Indian market for being “hazardous” to public health.
At the hearing held on June 30, the HC had allowed Nestlé India to export instant Maggi noodles, after the FSSAI told the court that it had no objection to the company selling the product abroad.
On its part, the FSSAI, in a detailed affidavit filed before the HC Bench, had justified its June 5, 2015 ban on Maggi noodles and questioned the company’s safety claims. It had contended that the “present situation has arisen only because the company has failed to adhere to its own declared policy and principles”.