The Delhi High Court on Friday put on hold the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) decision of 3 August, which restricted the sale of a list of products made by Dabur India Ltd that made claims like “100% Pure” and “100% Natural” across India. The relief will be granted in the interim until a next hearing of the case.
The order was issued by Justice Amit Mahajan, who took cognisance of Dabur’s petition challenging the order issued by the regulator. The court has also issued notices to Union government, FSSAI and others, urging them to submit their reply the next date of hearing.
The counsel representing Dabur submitted that the products have been in the market for decades and that the regulator has not adhered to principles of “natural justice” while issuing the ban. The company also challenged the competency of the president of the company to give him such an order.
Dabur further submitted that this applies to any emergency prohibitory action as well which must be communicated first to the affected party. It explained that the regulator didn’t consider this a crisis, so there was no justification in issuing the order without a show-cause notice.
Considering the comments put forward in these submissions, the High Court noted that an order of the character tossed was not ‘prima facie’ likely to have been issued without affording any opportunity for the company to present its case.
FSSAI is likely to send its responses to the Centre before it’s turned over for further hearing.