FSSAI Moves Supreme Court Against Lifting Ban on Maggi Noodles

India's food safety authority, FSSAI,  has appealed to the supreme court against a regional court order overturning a nationwide ban on Maggi instant noodles sold by the local unit of Nestle India.
Nestle India resumed selling its popular Maggi noodles this month after getting the green signal from government laboratories, as mandated by the Bombay High Court in August. The appeal, if admitted by the Supreme Court, could upset the Swiss food giant's plans to revive Maggi sales after Indian regulators reported in May that some packets of the noodles contained unsafe levels of lead.

Nestle India can continue selling the noodles for now. "We have filed the plea in the Supreme Court," Mansoor Khan, a lawyer for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a government body, said. He said the appeal had been filed against the Bombay High Court verdict in favour of Nestle.

The FSSAI petition in the Supreme Court says the regional court erred by asking Nestle itself, instead of asking a neutral authority, to provide the fresh Maggi samples for testing at the government laboratories, according to the Hindu newspaper. "It has been brought to our attention that the Supreme Court website has posted that the Food Safety and Standards Authority has filed a case against Nestle India Ltd and others," a Nestle India spokesman said in a statement.

"We have not been served a notice about this and are not yet aware of its content. However, we would like to reiterate that Nestle India is confident of the quality and safety of Maggi noodles and so we will defend ourselves vigorously." FSSAI chief Ashish Bahuguna declined to comment.

Nod to prosecute Baba-baiter seer

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said the Sankaracharya of Dwarka can be prosecuted for his alleged remarks that the Sai Baba of Shirdi should not be worshipped as he was neither a god nor an incarnation of divinity.

The Sankaracharya of Dwarka

“The moment he incites violence, he commits an offence. Prosecute him,” the court said but refused to pass any directive in what was “not a matter for judicial intervention”.

The three-judge bench declined to entertain a petition by the Maharashtra-based Saidham Charitable Trust, which had sought a directive asking the Union government to tell all states to ensure protection of Sai Baba idols and action against the pontiff.

The trust, represented by senior counsel A. Sundaram, had said the Dwarka seer’s remarks had a devastating effect as idols had been removed from temples in several states and dumped in gutters or immersed in local ponds and rivers.

Justices T.S. Thakur, A.K. Goel and R. Banumathi said if the trust was really aggrieved, it could approach criminal courts in places where the alleged vandalism had taken place and seek Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati’s prosecution.

“Hinduism is a way of life. Go and file a suit. Ordinary law will apply. Nothing prevents a trust from preventing… miscreants from taking away… idols. Law and order is a state subject,” the bench told the counsel.

“This is not a matter for judicial intervention,” it added. “If you want to pursue a remedy, you can always go to a criminal court.”

The trust’s counsel persisted with the plea, saying the reported incidents of vandalism had taken place at 10-15 places and it wouldn’t be possible to lodge complaints everywhere.

The court wasn’t convinced. “Just as you say you believe in idol worship, someone else will say I don’t believe in idol worship. It is not for this court to interfere in such matters. Go and file a suit. Ordinary law will help you,” the bench said.

The trust subsequently withdrew its plea.

Earlier in June, the Sankaracharya had reportedly said Hindus should not worship the Sai Baba of Shirdi, revered by millions, as he was a human being and not a god.

The petition filed by the trust complained that the Sankaracharya’s comments had created widespread anxiety and anger among followers of the Sai Baba. Although a criminal complaint was lodged with Indore police, the pontiff, it said, had repeated his assertion to the media.

The petition said the Union government had done nothing to restrain the Sankaraharya and his followers from persisting with instigating people against the Sai Baba despite a representation to the Prime Minister’s Office.