The appointment of joint food safety commissioners as adjudicating officers (AOs) by Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) Maharashtra is an apparent violation of justice system that is tantamount to a case of conflict of interest.
Stating that this had led to a serious breach of trust, Abhay Pandey, national president, All Food and Drug Licence Holders Foundation (AFDLH), alleged that the state FDA had amassed crores of rupees as penal recovery through it.
Questions as to how the FDA can judge its own case were raised, and Pandey said, “There are chances that the joint commissioners may act in favour of their own department that can lead to corruption.”
Earlier this year, FSSAI released a training manual for regulatory compliance. It stated, “As per Section 68 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the AO must not be below the rank of additional district magistrate (ADM).”
“The Government of Maharashtra is required to notify an officer not below the rank of ADM for the district where the alleged offence was committed,” it added.
“The AO is considered to be a civil court for the purposes of the Act. It has the power to punish for contempt or obstruction of its proceedings. Thus, the AO plays a crucial role in enforcement of the law,” the manual said.
However, in 2011, FDA Maharashtra issued a notification, wherein the joint commissioner, food, was given the power to act as the AO, while as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the AO must be unbiased and impartial person to judge a particular case.
Pandey said, “An AO should know neither the food safety officers (FSOs) nor the food business operators (FBO). As per his role, he should hear both the parties, and depending on the facts, give his judgment by penalising as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.”
“With the joint commissioner, food, in place of a judge, there are high chances of giving unfairly orders in favour of food safety officers (FSOs) in a biased manner or there are chances that errant FBOs may use such an facility to escape the penal provisions of the Act,” he added.
“We have submitted letters to Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer, FSSAI, Pallavi Darade, commissioner, FDA Maharashtra, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) requesting them to set up an enquiry to check whether there is a violation into the justice system,” Pandey said.
