Bombay HC Orders Maharashtra FDA to Pay Rs 5 Lakh to Pune Sweets Shop

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation to a Pune-based sweets shop for keeping its operating licence suspended despite receiving a 98 per cent compliance report.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad observed that while the food safety regulator's intentions were laudable, the authority was "going overboard" in its enforcement actions.

The judges described the FDA's existing policy of suspending licences of eateries and hotels as "strange" and "perverse".

The sweets shop had approached the High Court to challenge the FDA's suspension order. In its petition, the establishment stated that it had suffered a revenue loss amounting to Rs 8.74 lakh since it was forced to close in June.