MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday permitted AR Dairy Food Private Limited to operate all its units except that of ghee and skimmed milk powder.
Justice V Lakshminarayanan passed the interim order on a petition filed by the company, represented by its authorised signatory R Rajadharshini, challenging an order passed by the central designated officer on February 14. The officer, who is the central licensing authority under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act, 2006, had suspended the company’s licence for allegedly supplying substandard ghee to the prasadam unit of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
In its petition, the company said the TTD rejected consignments, besides the first four, based on a report by a Gujarat-based laboratory. Though a food safety officer collected samples from the company’s manufacturing unit in Dindigul, and a ‘backdated’ report dated July 16, 2024 even stated that the samples comply with the FSSAI standards, the officer, relying solely on the Gujarat-based laboratory’s report, suspended the company’s licence, it alleged.
Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan objected to the plea saying the company ought to have exhausted the appeal remedy under the FSSAI Act before approaching the court. However, because the petitioner is in the business for years on end and the adverse notice is issued on account of a single transaction, the judge observed that he does not want to close down the company as a whole by denying an interim order.
He ordered an interim stay to the effect that the suspension order will operate only with respect to ghee and skimmed milk powder and not with respect to other products being manufactured by the petitioner. He directed the FSSAI authorities to file a counter affidavit and adjourned the case to March 4, adding the interim order won’t be extended beyond that date.