Mumbai, Aug 21 The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant any urgent relief to a Thane-based restaurant facing action from the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while coming down on it heavily for serving banned analogue paneer to customers.
Citing "poetic justice", a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad, said the restaurant- 'Udupi Swaad' - also needs to suffer for some time just as it made people suffer by making them eat "something rotten".
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government banned the manufacture and sale of analogue or non-dairy paneer for one year over public health concerns and widespread violations of food safety norms. As per a government order, offenders could face life imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 10 lakh in cases where consumption of unsafe food results in death.
Analogue paneer is a non-dairy substitute made using vegetable oils, starches, emulsifiers and other additives instead of milk fat. It is cheaper to produce than conventional paneer and generally contains lower protein levels.
The eatery had filed a petition in the HC against the August 11 order of the FDA suspending its licence after it was found that it had been serving customers the banned analogue paneer.
In its plea, the restaurant said the FDA ought to have first issued them an improvement notice.
The court, which has time and again pulled up the FDA for its drastic action against eateries and hotels, on Friday, however, noted that the petitioner hotel needs to suffer.
"You need to suffer first as you have made people suffer by eating this (analogue paneer). This is poetic justice. We will take a different strict view this time," the court said.
The bench questioned the restaurant if it had mentioned clearly in its menu card that the paneer served in their dishes was analogue and not the actual paneer made from milk.
"You are making people eat something rotten by making them believe that it is paneer and you are saying improvement notice should be given to you? Why don't you advertise on your signboard that original food is not available with us," it asked.
The petitioner restaurant assured the court that it would not use analogue paneer again.
The bench, however, did not relent and said a customer has the right to know what he or she is consuming.
"How can you serve something that they (customers) have not asked for? You should be penalised and all those customers should go to the consumer forum and seek damages and costs," the HC said.
The court directed the FDA to file its affidavit in reply and posted the matter for further hearing on September 7.
