The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra orders on Subhiksha set aside

Mumbai, October 5 Retail-company Subhiksha has said that a Bench of the Bombay High Court has set aside all orders of Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration regarding the company’s warehouse at Bhiwandi and three of its vendors located there.

The Bench, however, has further ordered that the FDA Commissioner re-decide the matter regarding Subhiksha in accordance with law, a note from the company said.

In August, the regulatory FDA had cancelled the licence of Subhiksha and three of its vendors and a scaled-up 20-day suspension was imposed on Subhiksha.

The Chennai-based retail company approached the Bombay HC, which then stayed the orders.

Subsequently, the Bench had, on Friday, set aside the orders, the company said.

The retailer had came under the FDA scanner after its inspectors raised concerns on hygiene and the repackaging of goods at its warehouse in Bhiwandi on the outer fringes of the city.

A copy of the Court order was not available, but a Government source told Business Line that the Bombay HC has said that the appellate authority (the FDA Commissioner) should not have increased the 10-day suspension to 20 days without a show-cause notice.

So the FDA order was set aside, even as the issue was returned to the appellate authority, he explained.

The Court made a similar observation on the retailer’s three vendors, saying that they were independent companies and needed to be given individual show-cause notices.

The FDA had said that the vendors were sister companies of the retailer and hence dealt with together, the source said.

The Subhiksha Trading Services’ Managing Director, Mr R. Subramanian, told Business Line that the company had maintained that there was no problem with their warehouse and this stance has been vindicated.

Further, he said, the vendors (who handled the retailer’s agri-procurement) were independent companies, and not related to Subhiksha.

“They were co-located with us for better integration,” he added.

Related Stories:
Maharashtra extends Subhiksha licence suspension
Maharashtra inquiry into Subhiksha stores

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