- The Bombay High Court criticised the FDA for giving Mantralaya canteen a near-perfect cleanliness rating
- The FDA's 98% rating was dismissed as laughable after irregularities were found in inspection reports
- A re-inspection of Mantralaya canteen was ordered with FDA officials and lawyers present
The Bombay High Court on Friday reprimanded the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its almost-perfect rating to the Mantralaya (State Secretariat) canteen, while suspending licenses of private eateries for trivial issues.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad questioned if the agency was discriminating between government and private institutions while conducting their inspections.
It dismissed the FDA's 98 per cent rating of the Mantralaya canteen, calling it "laughable" and sending a team of four lawyers to inspect the premises again. The court further said the cleanliness rating was false and found several irregularities in the inspection reports.
The bench asked if the regulator targets only private establishments, saying that it needs to be "fair, impartial and uniform" in its drive concerning hotels and eateries.
The court was referring to a hotel in Mumbai's Fort area whose license was revoked after it was awarded a score of only 37 per cent.
It rejected the government counsel's claim that the state secretariat canteen had no insect inside it.
"Flies or cockroaches are found even in major five-star hotels. Then, how can the Mantralaya canteen be so flawless," it said, while expressing dissatisfaction over the FDA submitting only photographs of the canteen.
The court said the FDA must ensure transparent and equal treatment for both private and government establishments.
The court directed an FDA team, accompanied by four lawyers, to conduct a re-inspection of the canteen.
However, the atmosphere in the state secretariat canteen seemed to have taken a turn following the prospect of re-inspection with a sudden improvement in cleanliness.
Staff members were seen wearing gloves and hairnets, and food items have now been covered with new protective mesh screens.
FDA officials reviewed food quality, sanitation practices, management of the canteen and compliance with food safety regulations.
During the hearing, photographs shown in court reportedly revealed a broken drainage pipeline, water stagnation, leaking taps, unhygienic floors and an extremely dirty refrigerator defrost compartment.
The High Court remarked that "even a shoe rack is cleaner than this" after viewing the photographs.
Notices will be issued to the canteens at Mantralaya and Vidhan Bhavan, directing them to carry out necessary improvements.
