Maharashtra FDA Challenges FSSAI's powers, takes regulator to HC

The  Maharashtra’s Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Commissioner has approached the Bombay High Court, accusing the Union government and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) of creating an illegal “parallel system” and "hijacking" the powers of state food safety inspectors.' The petition was filed through the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, who has been widely praised over his crackdown on unsafe food handling and storage by big brands.The state claims FSSAI created an illegal parallel system by appointing "Central Food Safety Officers" and stripping state commissioners of their licensing and enforcement rights under the 2006 law.
The Maharashtra FDA argues that Parliament intended the 2006 law to decentralise food safety administration by placing the responsibility for inspecting restaurants, granting manufacturing licences and prosecuting errant food business operators directly with the State Food Safety Commissioner and local authorities.
The state has asked the High Court to strike down the contentious central regulations, stay an FSSAI circular issued on May 12, 2023, and direct the central regulator to transfer all Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) registration records back to state officers.Maharashtra has also challenged a notification that came out in March this year that raised turnover limits without a public consultation. The state demanded the scrapping of what it called "unconstitutional rules", a stay on the inspection ban and the return of the licensing database to the state's control.
According to the petition, the FSSAI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has used regulatory powers to establish a parallel administrative machinery comprising central licensing authorities, central food safety officers and central analysts. The Maharashtra FDA argues that the original Act does not provide legal backing for these posts.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh C Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna will hear the petition, which is likely to come up for hearing on November 26.The dispute over FoSCoS forms part of the broader challenge to the central regulator’s role in licensing and enforcement.