Maggi Row: Next Court Hearing on January 13, Nestle Shares Rise

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for FSSAI, said that the laboratories, accredited under the statute, should be allowed to conduct tests on such food products.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court asked Nestle to respond by January 12 to an appeal by the food regulator against the high court order which, while setting aside the Maggi ban, also effectively rendered the regulator toothless by questioning the credentials of its testing labs spread across the country.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from Maggi noodles manufacturer Nestle India and the Maharashtra Government on a plea filed by food regulator the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Pointing to the Bombay High Court holding that the findings of the government labs not accredited by the NABL could not be relied upon, he said that there 70 labs belonging to the central and state governments and because of the high court order, these were unable to do any work.

A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra waived off the formal notice as Nestle’s counsel, senior advocate, Harish Salve accepted it and said that he would file a reply to the petition by 5 January.

Following the favourable High Court verdict, Swiss giant, Nestle relaunched its instant noodles product on 9 November.

The Bombay High Court had revoked the ban on Maggi on October 19.

The bench agreed to examine FSSAI’s arguments on January 13. It said the HC has committed a mistake by asking the company itself to provide the fresh samples for testing instead of asking a neutral authority to do so. This, it contended, would hardly have the effect of a “ban order”, especially when Nestle had already issued a press release declaring that it was recalling its products under the scanner for excessive lead content. Nestle went on to destroy over 25,000 tonnes of Maggi products. “Moreover, the High Court ought not to have glossed over a serious issue of mis-declaration by a mere recording that the respondent company has agreed to remove the said mis-declaration from its packaging”, it added.

The petition also sought expunging of adverse remarks made against FSSAI officials by the high court.