The Delhi High Court has sought responses from the Centre, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Delhi government on a plea seeking a crackdown on dairy-analogue products allegedly being sold as paneer in the capital ahead of the festive season.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma, while refusing to grant interim relief, asked the authorities to respond to the public interest litigation filed by law student Ridhima Singh and advocate Avlokiteshwar Sidharth. The petitioners said paneer and chhena are commonly used in prasad and are linked to religious and social sentiments.
The plea referred to enforcement measures taken in Maharashtra concerning “analogue/non-dairy paneer” and cited subsequent actions in Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. The petitioners said these measures showed that the issue had been recognised by statutory authorities in multiple states and that preventive action could be taken under existing food-safety legislation.
The petitioners have sought directions to prevent the manufacture, supply and sale of dairy-analogue or non-dairy products from being represented or passed off as paneer. The plea refers to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and identifies cloud kitchens, hotels and e-commerce food businesses as areas requiring particular scrutiny.
The PIL has also asked the Delhi government and its food safety commissioner to conduct a special enforcement drive during the festive season. The proposed exercise would include inspections, sampling and testing of paneer and products represented as paneer at manufacturing units and other establishments, followed by action against operators found to be non-compliant.
The petitioners had sought interim directions requiring state authorities to complete a specified amount of sampling before the festive season. They argued that the request was time-sensitive, with Dussehra and Diwali approaching, and that delay would cause “grave injustice”. The court did not grant the interim relief at this stage but sought responses from the concerned authorities.
The plea places particular emphasis on food ordered from hotels, restaurants, caterers, cloud kitchens and online listings. It argues that a consumer seeing “paneer” on a menu or electronic platform places an order without being able to examine the original packaging. Since that packaging remains with the food-service establishment, the petitioners said consumers may have no way to determine whether the product is genuine paneer or a substitute that looks and tastes similar.
The court’s response now requires the Union government, FSSAI and Delhi government to address the petitioners’ demands and the regulatory measures sought for the festive period. The supplied court report does not specify the date by which the authorities must file their responses.
