The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that the Old Monk alcoholic beverage could not be sold as rum as it is made using neutral spirits and rum flavouring.
The response came against a plea by the manufacturer of the Old Monk alcoholic beverage challenging a sale prohibition order.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankar has been hearing a plea by Mohan Rocky Spring Water Private Limited seeking to quash the order that halted the sale of Old Monk in Maharashtra a few months ago following an inspection of the company’s Khopoli plant.
The agency later prohibited the sale, citing the use of external rum flavouring without explicit labelling as flavoured rum.
On Monday, the bench refused to grant an interim stay, following which the manufacturer agreed to modify its packaging label to prominently display that added flavours were used and remove the “seven years old blend” description. It submitted the modified labels on Thursday.
Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Govilkar, appearing for FSSAI, objected to the very description of the product as rum and argued that it cannot be sold as rum because neutral spirits were added with rum flavouring and, therefore, it cannot be called rum. The terminology used was that it “mimics” rum.
Thereafter, Acting Chief Justice Ghuge orally asked, “Despite neutral spirit, matured spirit, sugar, everything written (on label)?”
Govilkar responded, “It must have the characteristics as well as the quality of the product. It may be whiskey, rum, or anything. They (petitioner) are predominantly selling it as a rum.”
“So that means they will have to now change the very product itself?” the bench questioned.
The counsel for the manufacturer, Senior Advocate Navroz Sirwai, countered the regulator’s objection, saying, “The petitioner is manufacturing exactly the rum as per its definition, from neutral, rectified, distilled spirit of agricultural origin.”
He then sought interim relief, claiming losses of crores of rupees.
The hearing is adjourned until December 8 to allow Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh to take instructions and respond on the three modified labels submitted by the manufacturer.