High Court Issues Notice To Centre, Delhi Govt In Suo Moto PIL Over Sale Of Expired Food Products With New Expiry Dates

The Delhi High Court has initiated a suo motu public interest litigation on the issue of the sale of expired food products with re-packaging and new expiry dates in the market.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora issued notice to the Union Government, Delhi Government, Standards Authority of India and the Delhi Police.

The court also appointed Advocate Shwetasree Mazumdar as Amicus Curiae in the matter and listed it for hearing on February 08.

The suo motu PIL was registered pursuant to a single judge's order passed last month wherein the court directed a detailed investigation into the re-packaging and sale of expired food products in the national capital, including counterfeit chocolates of leading brand Hershey's.

The Single Judge, prima facie, concluded that the suit revealed an extraordinary situation involving public health, particularly relating to food products, and therefore, directed it to be placed before the roster bench for being taken up on the judicial side in the manner as deemed appropriate.

“From the order dated 19th December, 2023 passed by the learned Single Judge, it is apparent that there is a coordinated and systematic mechanism in place by which the expired products are being re-packaged/re-branded with new expiry dates and are being introduced into the markets,” the court said.

The single judge was dealing with a suit filed by Hershey against a manufacturer, Atul Jalan, seeking to restrain him from selling expired chocolates by re-packaging them.

Hershey alleged that the manufacturer had knowledge of and access to its mark and packaging and had blatantly copied them misrepresenting their expired and counterfeit chocolates as his products.

Considering that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was unable to take urgent action in such cases and that the matter at hand was beyond the scope of the commercial suit filed by Hershey, the court had directed that the order be placed before Acting Chief Justice Manmohan for being taken up on the judicial side inappropriate manner.

In the meantime, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police was directed to carry out a detailed investigation and file a status report.

Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION v. ATUL JALAN TRADING AS AKSHAT ONLINE TRADERS AND ORS