The Delhi High
Court initiated a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue of the
sale of expired food products being repackaged and sold with fresh expiry dates
printed. The matter has been scheduled for a hearing on February 8.
A division bench
comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
issued notice on the matter to the Union Government, Delhi Government, Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Delhi Police. The court
has also appointed Advocate Shwetasree Mazumdar as Amicus Curiae in the case.
The Hershey
Company vs Atul Jalan
The suo motu PIL
was issued following an order passed by a single-bench judge last month, who
ordered a detailed investigation into the repackaging of expired food items and
its sale in the national capital. Justice Prathiba Singh had been presiding
over a civil suit filed by leading chocolate company Hershey, which was seeking
an injunction against Atul Jalan (trading as Akshat Online Traders) from
selling repackaged expired chocolates during the Diwali period in 2023.
In this case,
Justice Singh found the defendant (Atul Jalan) to be a "rank
counterfeit" who had blatantly copied and misrepresented the expired and
counterfeit chocolates as the plaintiff's (The Hershey Company) products.
Justice Singh then referred the matter to the acting chief justice, so that it
could be taken up on the judicial side.
In December,
Justice Singh also directed the Delhi Police's crime branch to initiate
investigations into the matter. Justice Singh also noted that reselling of
expired food products was especially found in large quantities on e-commerce
websites. These products not only change the date of expiry but also the
manufacturing dates in order to sell products to unassuming customers.
The division
bench initiating the PIL, found that this was an "extraordinary
situation" which heavily concerned public health and required "urgent
consideration".
"It is
apparent that there is a coordinated and systematic mechanism in place by which
the expired products are being repackaged/re-branded with new expiry dates and
are being introduced into the markets," the court said.