HC quashes ban on Maggi noodles, orders fresh tests

The labs have been asked to submit their report within six weeks

In a major relief to Maggi noodles manufacturer Nestle India Ltd, the Bombay high court on Thursday quashed the orders of the Indian food regulators banning the nine variants of noodles in the country after observing that principles of natural justice were not followed.

A division bench of the high court allowed Nestle to go in for fresh testing by sending five samples of each variant of noodles to three independent laboratories in Punjab, Hyderabad and Jaipur which were accredited with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

These samples would be taken out of the 750 samples preserved by the company following the ban. A huge stock of Maggi noodles was destroyed by Nestle after the ban was imposed by the food regulators.

If the lead content is found below permissible limits by these three labs, Nestle, the Indian arm of Swiss company, will be allowed to manufacture Maggi noodles, Justices V M Kanade and B P Colabawala said.

The labs have been asked to submit their report within six weeks.

While quashing the orders of the food regulators, namely Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Maharashtra's Food and Drugs Department (FDA), the court said that principles of natural justice were not followed because the manufacturer was not given a hearing.

Moreover, the laboratories, where tests were performed to determine lead content in Maggi, were not authorised, the court observed.

The judges refused to grant stay on their order on a plea made by food regulators. They said the company had given an undertaking that it would not manufacture or sell Maggi noodles till the results of the three labs were received.

"The fresh tests would also take some time. Hence, there was no need to grant a stay on the order," the judges said.

The HC held that the petitions filed by Nestle challenging the nation-wide ban on Maggi noodles was maintainable and that it (the high court) had the jurisdiction to hear it under powers derived by it under Article 226 of the Constitution.

FSSAI and FDA had earlier banned Maggi noodles saying the samples of noodles tested by them contained 'lead beyond permissible limit'.

Nestle had argued that its product did not contain 'lead' in excess of permissible ceiling and challenged the tests by FSSAI and FDA, while the food regulators had said that the lead content in the noodles detected during the tests in reputed laboratories was harmful to public health.