6 min readUpdated: Aug 3, 2026 11:25 AM ISTFDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)For nearly three months since Tukaram Mundhe took charge of the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the headlines have been relentless. Big-name restaurants, sweet shops, dairies and milk vendors forced to down shutters over food safety violations, an FDA press release landing every evening with a fresh name and photographs of the lapses.Now a pushback has emerged, and it has come through the legal route. Establishments that believe the action was harsh relative to the violations went to court, and over the past month the Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Nagpur, and Aurangabad has sided with them in at least nine cases, holding that due process was not followed before licences were suspended. The Indian Express looks at how and why the courts have disagreed with the ‘Mundhe method‘.The benches have restored food licences, stayed suspension orders or directed that suspensions be treated as improvement or show-cause notices. Suspending a licence on the spot, the court held, cannot be justified except in “compelling” circumstances involving public health risks, and actions, though laudable, must be proportionate, fair and impartial.What the law saysAt the heart of every case is one question. Can the FDA shut an eatery straight away, or must it warn the owner first and give time to fix the lapses?The Food Safety and Standards Act lays down a sequence. Under Section 32, an officer who finds violations must first issue an “improvement notice”, in effect a written warning listing what is wrong and how to correct it, and give the business at least 14 days to comply. Only if the owner fails to act can the licence be suspended, and only after a further show-cause notice can it be cancelled.The litigation turns on the law’s lone exception under section 32 (3) of the Act. An officer can suspend a licence immediately “in the interest of public health”, skipping the warning, provided reasons are recorded in writing. The FDA leaned on it across the state. The courts have asked whether it was entitled to.The state defended the “extraordinary” measure, arguing surprise inspections revealed serious lapses in hygiene, sanitation, storage and handling. There was “no pick and choose“, it told the court, noting canteens of the BMC, KEM Hospital and top Mumbai clubs were also shut.Story continues below this adThe Nagpur bench set the bar high. Compelling circumstances, it observed, “could be of a nature that on assessment of risk and other factors there must be the possibility of harmful effects on health or where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the food may present a risk for human health.” And, “In the absence of such circumstances, the improvement notice is must.” Put simply, a slippery floor does not justify shutting shop on the spot. Food that can make people sick does.How the courts pushed backThe first relief came on July 7, when Justice Anil S Kilor-led bench sided with Goras Bhandar, an 80-year-old dairy and sweets shop in Wardha ordered shut after an inspection and its licence suspended the next day, without warning. Holding that buttermilk made using industrial ice was the “only item” posing a “risk to human health”, the court said deficiencies such as inadequate storage and slippery floors were not “exceptional circumstances”. It set aside the action, allowing authorities to act against the buttermilk alone.Last week, the Aurangabad bench, in at least six pleas, stayed suspensions of several milk suppliers and vendors accused of adulteration and synthetic milk production. “Without issuing improvement notice, directly action of suspension of licence is taken,” Justice S G Chapalgaonkar observed. In another case, it held that broken tiles and an open drainage chamber line were not of a “serious nature that would require closure of milk processing units or abrupt suspension of licences”, finding “no exigencies” warranting “drastic action”.On July 29, a bench led by Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge restored the licence of a four-star Navi Mumbai hotel, suspended a day after a surprise inspection. “Two insects” in an otherwise “satisfactory” kitchen report were no ground to continue the suspension, the court said, after its appointed committee found the hotel had “substantially remedied the deficiencies” and reached 95 per cent compliance.Story continues below this adThe sharpest questioning came on July 31, on a plea by Poornima Restaurant, the iconic Udupi eatery in Fort. Comparing FDA reports with those of four court-appointed lawyers who inspected the Mantralaya, Vidhan Bhavan and Annexe canteens and found refrigeration in shambles, the court said, “The law has to be enforced impartially and no litigant before the court should feel that private commercial establishments are meted out with different standards of inspection than statutory establishments.”“Either suspend the licence of the Mantralaya canteen or restore Poornima restaurant’s licence… We want parity, we want everyone to be treated equally. None, and especially VVIPs, are above the law. Even we virtually told you to inspect canteens in High Court premises. We are in India, you (FDA) have to take realistic step,” Justice Ghuge remarked. The FDA was doing a “laudable job”, the bench said, but “medication should not be worse than the disease”, and authorities were “shooting first and then asking questions”.Noting the canteen inspections lasted only 30-40 minutes against lengthy ones at Poornima and the hotel, the court deemed those reports unreliable and directed Mundhe to scrutinise them. The FDA then told the HC Poornima’s suspension would be treated as an improvement notice, and the restaurant and Mantralaya canteens would be reinspected on Wednesday after time to rectify.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdOmkar Gokhale is a journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Mumbai. His work demonstrates exceptionally strong Expertise and Authority in legal and judicial reporting, making him a highly Trustworthy source for developments concerning the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court in relation to Maharashtra and its key institutions. Expertise & Authority Affiliation: Reports for The Indian Express, a national newspaper known for its rigorous journalistic standards, lending significant Trustworthiness to his legal coverage. Core Authority & Specialization: Omkar Gokhale's work is almost exclusively dedicated to the complex field of legal affairs and jurisprudence, specializing in: Bombay High Court Coverage: He provides detailed, real-time reports on the orders, observations, and decisions of the Bombay High Court's principal and regional benches. Key subjects include: Fundamental Rights & Environment: Cases on air pollution, the right to life of residents affected by dumping sites, and judicial intervention on critical infrastructure (e.g., Ghodbunder Road potholes). Civil & Criminal Law: Reporting on significant bail orders (e.g., Elgaar Parishad case), compensation for rail-related deaths, and disputes involving high-profile individuals (e.g., Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty). Constitutional and Supreme Court Matters: Reports and analysis on key legal principles and Supreme Court warnings concerning Maharashtra, such as those related to local body elections, reservations, and the creamy layer verdict. Governance and Institution Oversight: Covers court rulings impacting public bodies like the BMC (regularisation of illegal structures) and the State Election Commission (postponement of polls), showcasing a focus on judicial accountability. Legal Interpretation: Reports on public speeches and observations by prominent judicial figures (e.g., former Chief Justice B. R. Gavai) on topics like free speech, gender equality, and institutional challenges. Omkar Gokhale's consistent, focused reporting on the judiciary establishes him as a definitive and authoritative voice for legal developments originating from Mumbai and impacting the entire state of Maharashtra. ... 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