HC Denies Relief to Thane Restaurant Over Analogue Paneer Licence Suspension
The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief to Udupi Swaad, a Thane-based restaurant whose Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence was suspended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for allegedly serving analogue or non-dairy paneer to customers.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad declined to stay the suspension while hearing the restaurant's petition challenging the action. Criticising the establishment, the bench remarked that the restaurant was serving substandard food and questioned why it did not display on its signboards that analogue paneer was being sold instead of real dairy products.
According to the petition, food safety officers visited the restaurant in Thane on June 11, reviewed its purchase records, and found that it had procured analogue paneer to prepare and sell various paneer dishes. The officers collected a one-kilogram loose sample of paneer and sent it to an FDA laboratory for analysis.
A laboratory report submitted on June 26 revealed that the sample failed to conform to the standards for paneer under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. The report concluded that the product likely contained foreign fat and categorised it as unsafe under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The restaurant claimed its licence was subsequently suspended on August 11 through an automated portal notification without any prior improvement notice, non-compliance report, or opportunity for a hearing.
During the hearing, advocate Vishal Hegde, representing the restaurant, argued that a statewide FDA notification issued on July 3 by FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe—which prohibited the manufacture, storage, and sale of analogue paneer marketed as dairy paneer—took effect only on July 30, nearly seven weeks after the inspection. He argued that the suspension forced the eatery to shut down, causing irreparable business and goodwill losses.
Assistant Government Pleader Vikrant Parashurami, appearing for the FDA, informed the court that the refractometer reading of the extracted fat was 51.67, significantly exceeding the prescribed range of 40 to 44 and indicating the presence of added foreign fat.
The High Court observed that while no formal compliance report had been prepared before the suspension, the restaurant had compromised public safety for minor profit margins. The bench stated that no interim relief would be granted and noted that consumers should approach the consumer forum to seek damages against such practices. The court directed the FDA to file its response and scheduled the matter for its next hearing on September 10.
