1 week ago
Bombay HC Refuses Relief to Thane Eatery Over Analog Paneer
A restaurant in Thane was accused of serving analog paneer instead of regular paneer.
Analog paneer is made without milk fat and uses ingredients such as vegetable oils and starches.
The food regulator suspended the restaurant’s licence after finding its paneer sample unsafe and substandard.
The restaurant asked the Bombay High Court to give it immediate relief.
It said the regulator should have first issued an improvement notice.
The court did not restore the licence or change the suspension.
The judges said customers have a right to know what they are eating.
The court asked the food regulator to respond and will hear the case again on September 7.
The Bombay High Court refused urgent relief to Udupi Swaad Restaurant after its food licence was suspended.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration said the restaurant served banned analog, or non-dairy, paneer.
An FDA report from June found the restaurant’s paneer sample unsafe and substandard.
The restaurant argued that the FDA should have issued an improvement notice before suspending its licence.
The court questioned whether customers were told they were being served analog paneer and scheduled the next hearing for September 7.
- Who
- Udupi Swaad Restaurant, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration, and a Bombay High Court bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam A Ankhad.
- What
- The court refused immediate relief and rejected the restaurant’s request to treat its licence suspension as an improvement notice.
- Where
- The restaurant is in Wagle Estate, Thane, and the case was heard by the Bombay High Court.
- When
- The FDA suspension order was dated August 11, and the next hearing was scheduled for September 7; the FDA’s paneer report was from June.
- Why
- The FDA suspended the licence after a June report found the paneer sample unsafe and substandard, while the agency also cited a statewide ban on analog paneer.
Restaurant’s Position
FDA and Court’s Position
Improvement notice
Restaurant’s Position
The restaurant argued that the FDA should have issued a mandatory improvement notice under Section 32 of the Food Safety and Standards Act before suspending its licence.
FDA and Court’s Position
The court rejected the request to treat the suspension notice as an improvement notice and declined to grant immediate relief.
Licence suspension
Restaurant’s Position
The restaurant said the suspension forced it to shut down and caused losses to its revenue, livelihood and reputation.
FDA and Court’s Position
The FDA defended the suspension by citing the statewide prohibition on analog paneer and the unsafe, substandard sample identified in its report.
Customer disclosure
Restaurant’s Position
The restaurant assured the court that it would not use analog paneer again.
FDA and Court’s Position
The court questioned whether customers had been told they were receiving analog paneer and said they had a right to know what they were being served.
Key facts
- Restaurant
- Udupi Swaad Restaurant
- Location
- Wagle Estate, Thane
- Regulator
- Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration
- Regulatory action
- Food licence suspended
- Product at issue
- Analog or analogue paneer, described as a non-dairy substitute
- FDA finding
- A June report found the paneer sample unsafe and substandard
- Next hearing
- September 7
Quotes
Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge
Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court hearing the restaurant’s petition
“Have you advertised in your menu card and inform or indicate customers you are serving them analog paneer and not the actual paneer? You are making people eat something rotten by making them believe that it is paneer and you are saying improvement notice should be given to you?”
deccanchronicle.com
freepressjournal.in
NDTV
“You need to suffer for some time. If you are making people suffer by eating this (analog paneer), you also need to suffer for some time… Poetic justice. We will take a different strict view.”
deccanchronicle.com
freepressjournal.in
NDTV
Sources
HC Denies Relief To Eatery For Serving Analogue Paneer; Cites Poetic Justice
Bombay HC Slams Thane Restaurant Over Analog Paneer Use, Says Customers Have Right To Know What They Eat
'Poetic Justice': Bombay High Court Refuses Relief To Eatery Serving Banned Paneer
‘Suffer’: Bombay HC’s wrath shifts from FDA to Thane’s Udupi restaurant over ‘analog’ paneer
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