The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to issue a supplementary notice and allow AR Dairy Food additional time to respond regarding the ghee supplied for making Tirupati laddus.
This directive followed a petition filed by G. Kannan on behalf of AR Dairy Food, which was heard on Thursday by Justice N. Sathish Kumar.
The company had contested a show-cause notice concerning its ghee supply. AR Dairy Food began supplying ghee on June 4 and received approval for four consignments from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in-house testing laboratory that same month. However, in July, four subsequent consignments were rejected without explanation.
The initial notice required AR Dairy Food to clarify why their contract should not be terminated and why they should not be blacklisted. The company has since responded to the notice, with the case currently pending.
AR Dairy Food’s defense pointed out that TTD relied on lab reports from the NDDB-Calf in Gujarat, which is not recognized as a food safety officer under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) of 2006. On September 20, the FSSAI issued a show-cause notice seeking an explanation for why the company’s Central license should not be suspended for alleged violations of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011.
The company argued that FSSAI didn’t adhere to the proper procedures outlined in the FSSA Act. Samples were only collected from their Dindigul unit after the notice was issued. In response, AR Dairy Food filed a reply on September 22, denying the allegations. Subsequently, on September 27, a notification was again sent to NDDB-Calf, further challenging the earlier notice.
The court’s recent direction to FSSAI underscores the importance of due process in the enforcement of food safety regulations, ensuring that AR Dairy Food has a fair opportunity to respond to the allegations.
