Bombay HC directs Amazon to hand over expired goods to FDA for disposal

The Bombay High Court directed Amazon Retail India to hand over expired and perished goods from its Bhiwandi warehouse to Maharashtra FDA for scientific disposal. The court also sought the FDA’s response to Amazon’s plea challenging suspension and cancellation of its licence

Mumbai: Days after reprimanding the Maharashtra FDA for its drastic action against a warehouse of Amazon Retail India, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the e-commerce giant to hand over all expired and perished goods from the Bhiwandi-based facility to the agency for scientific disposal.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad also directed the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) to file its affidavit in response to Amazon’s plea challenging its warehouse’s licence suspension by August 27. Amazon Retail India moved the HC after the FDA took action against its warehouse in Bhiwandi, Thane district, for allegedly sending expired food into the retail market instead of destroying it.

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As a stopgap arrangement, the court on Monday said that the petitioner shall prepare an inventory of all its expired and perished items from this warehouse and hand them over to the concerned FDA officer. The officer will then take steps, as mandated in law, to dispose of the items, it stated, adding that Amazon will have to bear the cost for the exercise.

According to the plea, FDA officers visited the warehouse on June 24 and suspended its licence the next day without issuing an improvement notice. An appeal was then filed before the concerned authority. However, pending the appeal on July 1, the FDA issued a show-cause notice to the petitioner and then cancelled its licence.

The court had on Friday chided the FDA, saying the agency, while implementing its policy vigorously, was “trying to kill a mosquito with a sword”, and advised it to act in a systematic way. The agency has been in the news for a slew of raids on food establishments, including some famous eateries, since IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe was appointed at its helm in May.