Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pay ₹5 lakh compensation to a Pune based sweets shop, holding that the department acted unfairly by refusing to restore its food license even after a re inspection found the establishment to be 98 percent compliant.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad described the FDA’s approach as a “strange policy” and observed that while the regulator’s objective of ensuring food safety was laudable, it had gone “overboard” by continuing the suspension.
The case was filed by Gurunanak Dairy and Sweets, whose license was suspended on June 12 after a food safety inspection triggered by a complaint of food poisoning. Inspectors had raised concerns regarding sanitation and staff hygiene, leading to the immediate closure of the business.
The shop owners challenged the suspension before the FDA Commissioner and submitted a compliance report after addressing the deficiencies. A re inspection conducted on July 13 confirmed that the establishment had achieved 98 percent compliance, yet the suspension remained in force.
The High Court noted that the license should have been restored immediately after the favourable inspection report and said the prolonged suspension had caused avoidable financial hardship. The shop had informed the court that it suffered a revenue loss of ₹8.74 lakh during the period of closure.
Allowing the business to resume operations, the bench ordered the Maharashtra FDA to pay ₹5 lakh to the shop owners within one month as compensation for the losses caused by the delay.
Following the verdict, FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said the department would examine the court’s order before issuing a detailed response, adding that the agency would continue to act in accordance with the law and prescribed procedures.
