18 hrs ago
Bombay High Court Quashes Britannia Cheese Safety Case Over Safeguards
Bombay High Court stopped a criminal case against Britannia Dairy.
The case was about cheese that a food officer said had fungus.
The company was told about the problem only after the cheese’s shelf life ended.
That meant it could not ask another approved laboratory to test the sample.
The court said this denied the company protections under food-safety law.
It also said the company never received the food analyst’s report.
A lower court’s decision to start the case was criticized as insufficiently careful.
The High Court canceled both the case and that decision.
It said continuing the case would be an abuse of the court process.
The Bombay High Court quashed criminal proceedings against Britannia Dairy over allegedly unsafe cheese.
The case involved Britannia Cheese Cubes (Sour Cream and Onion), manufactured by Schreiber Dynamix Dairies.
A food safety sample was allegedly found fungus-infested and declared unsafe under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The court said notice came after the cheese’s shelf life expired, preventing Britannia Dairy from seeking referral-laboratory testing.
The court also criticized the magistrate’s process order and called it a “rubber stamp order.”
- Who
- Britannia Dairy Private Limited, with proceedings involving a Food Safety Officer and a magistrate’s court.
- What
- The Bombay High Court quashed criminal proceedings concerning allegedly unsafe Britannia Cheese Cubes.
- Where
- The proceedings were before the Bombay High Court and an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Mumbai.
- When
- The High Court ruling was reported on September 18; the challenged process order was issued on July 28, 2014, and notice was received on May 17, 2014.
- Why
- The court found that Britannia Dairy was denied statutory safeguards because notice came after the product expired and the Food Analyst’s report was not supplied.
Key facts
- Company
- Britannia Dairy Private Limited
- Product
- Britannia Cheese Cubes (Sour Cream and Onion)
- Manufacturer
- Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Limited
- Allegation
- The food safety sample was allegedly infested with fungus and declared unsafe.
- Key procedural issue
- Notice was served after the cheese had crossed its shelf life.
- Court finding
- The company lost the opportunity to have the sample tested by a referral laboratory and challenge the report.
- Outcome
- The criminal proceedings and the magistrate’s order issuing process were quashed.
Quotes
Justice RR Bhonsale
Bombay High Court judge who issued the ruling
“It cannot be that the mandatory provisions and safeguards as provided under the FSS Act... are not complied with in their proper letter and spirit”
freepressjournal.in
“By issuing a notice after the expiry of the shelf life, the Applicant has clearly lost its right to exercise the option available”
freepressjournal.in
Sources
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