Amid the Tukaram Mundhe-led Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) famed crackdown on five-star hotels, restaurants, clubs, and quick-commerce firms in Maharashtra, a Pune sweet shop was kept shut for 34 days, which led to the Bombay High Court stepping in.
Gurunanak Dairy and Sweets, based in Pune's Wadgaon Sheri, told the Court that it had reportedly lost ₹8.5 lakh in revenue due to the 34-day closure, despite getting a score of 35/36 marks (or 98 per cent compliance) in its re-inspection report.
Calling the FDA move "a strange policy and perversity", a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad revoked the suspension order, allowing the sweet shop to restart its operations.
The FDA has also been ordered to pay the sweet shop a fine of ₹5 lakh within 30 days, as per an Indian Express report.
“We have earlier observed that your intention is laudable and some department has at least stood up. But you are going overboard," the bench remarked, noting that the sweet shop's licence suspension should immediately have been revoked after it got a 98 per cent compliance score on the re-inspection report.
Why was it suspended?
The Maharashtra FDA had revoked the licence of the sweet shop on June 12 after it received complaints of food poisoning. This led it to investigate the shop's premises, at which time they found several violations linked to sanitation, maintenance, and hygiene.
Weeks later, Gurunanak Dairy and Sweets reached out to FDA Commissioner Mundhe, with a July 9 compliance report addressing its mistakes. Four days later, an FDA officer reinspected the premises and awarded it 98 per cent in food safety compliance.
However, the sweet shop's licence remained suspended, which prompted it to approach the Bombay High Court.
Though a lawyer appearing for the FDA justified the non-revocation, saying the appeal was heard and closed for judgment on August 11, the court called it a “lame excuse”, and lashed out at the food safety body for "torturing citizens".
