The Bombay High Court has mandated the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a new inspection of food service outlets located within the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) premises at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). This decision follows petitions that contested the suspension of these outlets’ licenses due to alleged hygiene and licensing infractions.
A panel consisting of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad issued this instruction in the case of Mumbai Cricket Association v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. The controversy began when five outlets faced license suspensions on August 21, following an inspection that identified operational violations. According to the FDA, although the licenses were issued under MCA’s name, the actual management of these eateries was conducted by Shirke Infrastructure.
The bench has now ordered a re-inspection scheduled for Thursday. In the interim, the outlets have been allowed to continue serving beverages through automated tea and coffee vending machines. The court clarified, “The petitioners have automated tea and coffee vending machines, and such tea and coffee can be served with minimal human intervention. To meet the needs of guests and participants, we are only allowing the petitioners to serve tea and coffee through these machines, prohibiting any other activities.”
During the proceedings, the court criticized the FDA for the format of the inspection reports, noting that the reports lacked standardized scoring parameters typically included in auto-generated reports. “You have an auto-generated report. And that auto-generated report also mentions the score. How come in these matters there is no score?” queried Acting Chief Justice Ghuge. “There is no marking, there is no mention of the marks which are to be granted to various activities, as is usually done in every matter that has come before us,” added the court.
The court has directed FDA officials to perform the re-inspection between 1 pm and 6 pm on Thursday, emphasizing that if the outlets comply fully, the suspension should be lifted immediately at 6 pm. It also stressed that accurate scoring should be recorded in the auto-generated reports. Concerning the licensing disagreement, the court advised the FDA to assess the contractual relationship between the MCA and Shirke Infrastructure pragmatically. “If you feel that the contracts are within the framework of law, and they are legally acceptable, then you should have no problem,” the bench remarked.
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During a lighter moment in court, Senior Advocate Vikram Nankani, representing the MCA, humorously pointed out the necessity of allowing tea and coffee services due to upcoming badminton events, remarking, “The cricketers will have to go out for tea and vadapav.” Responding to this, Acting Chief Justice Ghuge joked, “Had they realized that the food is also sometimes non-vegetarian because of the flies and cockroaches…”
The court is scheduled to reconvene on August 29 to evaluate the results of the new inspection.
