New Delhi, Aug 25 The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the FSSAI not to cancel for the time being ITC Ltd's licence over failure to comply with directives asking the conglomerate to remove all "100 per cent" claims in relation to its product, 'Aashirvaad M.P Chakki Atta'.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma granted interim protection to ITC on its petition challenging the FSSAI advisories and notices to discontinue the usage of the term “100%” for its product or face suspension of FSSAI License.
"Since the issue regarding jurisdiction is to be decided and the courts will be closed, till the next date of hearing, no decision regarding cancellation of the license will be taken," Justice Sharma said as it listed the case for hearing on September 9.
Justice Sharma also said that she would pass an order on Monday, August 31, on the maintainability of a separate petition by AWL Agri Business Limited against FSSAI.
AWL Agri Business Limited received FSSAI notices over allegedly misleading label declarations and claims, including that of being “100% Veg” and “Cholesterol Free – For Healthy Lifestyle”, for its product, 'Fortune Soya Health Refined Soyabean Oil'.
During the hearing, FSSAI's counsel objected to the maintainability of ITC's petition in Delhi, contending that the latest improvement notice was issued in Kolkata.
In May 2025, FSSAI issued an advisory to all food business operators, asking them to discontinue the usage of “100%” on food product labels, packaging, and promotional content.
Subsequently, on August 10, a fresh notice called upon ITC to clarify within 30 days why no action should be taken against it for failing to comply with the advisory.
The notice asserted that the claims “100% Atta & 100% Madhya Pradesh Wheat” on the label and “Made from 1005 M.P Wheat only” in the advertisement were misleading and impermissible under the regulations.
Three days later, the Central Licensing Authority on Kolkata issued an improvement notice directing ITC "to remove the claim/term of 100% Atta & 100% Madhya Pradesh Wheat" along with "0% Maida" on "Aashirvaad M.P Chakki Atta" across all labels and advertisements.
The improvement notice asked the company to submit a compliance report within 15 days or face suspension of FSSAI license.
ITC, in its petition, stated that the improvement notice was issued prior to even before the expiry of the 30 days granted to it by FSSAI to respond to the allegations, and was effectively a final order of prohibition.
ITC also alleged that the notice was non-speaking, mechanical, and without any application of mind, and that the threat of suspension of licence was completely arbitrary and grossly disproportionate.
