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On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court raised concerns about the sale of expired food products that were reintroduced to the market after being repackaged and re-branded with new expiry dates. The court emphasized that people should not be made to consume "adulterated" food, stating that no one should be permitted to sell expired goods and that such practices cannot be considered legitimate business.
"People cannot be having adulterated food in Delhi. Give us suggestions on how this can be tackled," a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.
The bench was addressing a public interest litigation that it had initiated on its own after multiple reports emerged of expired products being repackaged with new expiry dates. Advocate Shwetasree Mazumdar, serving as amicus curiae, presented her report to the court, suggesting that manufacturers could introduce a QR code on all packaged food items.
This would help in tracking the original expiry dates of the products. She also pointed out that while there are existing laws to address this issue, the penalties for violations are not stringent enough, and recommended that they be reviewed to provide a stronger deterrent.
"Food business operators be directed to mark all food products with a unique alphanumeric code or a QR code that is identifiable by an FSSAI representative by cross-reference to a centralised database, which will reveal the batch number and expiry date of a product immediately and on-site, to obviate testing and sampling to ascertain whether expiry dates and other information on the label has been tampered with," the amicus submitted.
The court requested the authorities to provide suggestions on how they plan to enhance the collection and testing of samples. The bench also instructed the Delhi Police to submit an updated status report on the matter. Additionally, the court ordered certain alleged counterfeiters, who were caught selling expired chocolates after repackaging them, to appear in person at the next hearing.
"You cannot be selling expired food items. This cannot be a business. Ask your clients to remain personally present in court next time," the bench told the counsel for the alleged counterfeiters. The court had earlier issued notice to the central government, Delhi government, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Delhi Police, seeking their response on the matter.
The suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) was initiated after Justice Prathiba M. Singh referred the issue to a division bench for judicial consideration. Justice Singh was originally handling a civil suit filed by a well-known chocolate manufacturer which sought an injunction against certain counterfeiters before the Diwali season.
These counterfeiters were allegedly repackaging and selling expired chocolates, misrepresenting them as genuine products. During the hearing, it was found that the counterfeiters had knowledge of the company's branding and packaging, and had blatantly copied them to pass off their expired goods as authentic.
