Mumbai: In a big relief to Nestle India, Bombay high court on Thursday set aside the order passed by FSSAI, banning 9 variants of the popular noodle Maggi.
The ban was lifted with the condition that manufacturing and selling would be allowed only after fresh tests.
A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Burgess Colabawalla gave the verdict on the petition filed by Nestle challenging the June 5 ban imposed on the manufacture and sale of Maggi after samples tested allegedly high for lead content.
The HC also refused to grant a stay on its own order observing that manufacturing and fresh taste testing will take time. The court said the ban was imposed without following the principles of natural justice and laboratories where tests were performed were not authorised.
Court observed that the company itself said that they will not manufacture and sell Maggi till clean chit is given from the FSSAI accredited labs. Court has asked Nestle to get the tests done within 6 weeks.
“We have examined the evidence in great detail. Since the petitioner Nestle has already agreed not to make and sell Maggi until the food authorities are satisfied, we see no reason to allow any relief to food authorities,” Justice Vidyasagar Kanade told the court.
“We direct that Nestle send five samples from each batch of Maggi for testing to three labs and only if the lead is found to be lower than permitted will they start manufacturing and sale again.”
More than 2,700 samples of Maggi noodles have been tested by laboratories in India and abroad in recent months, and each test confirmed the level of lead to be “far below permissible limits,” Nestle said in a statement recently.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Nestle India challenging the order of June 5 passed by FSSAI banning nine variants of the popular instant food snack. It had also questioned a similar order by Maharashtra government prohibiting the sale of the same products on the ground that they were unsafe and harmful for the health of people.
The FSSAI order to Nestle states that the regulatory body has noted three ‘major violations’, namely the presence of lead detected in the product in excess of the maximum permissible levels; misleading labelling information on the package reading ‘No added MSG’; and thirdly the release of a non-standardised food product ‘Maggi Oats Masala Noodles with Tastemaker’ in the market, without risk assessment and grant of product approval.
The ruling came a day after India said it was seeking damages of nearly Rs 640 crores from Nestle India for “unfair trade practices” in relation to the noodles.
