Bombay HC asks Amazon to hand over expired goods from Bhiwandi warehouse to Maharashtra FDA

Amazon Retail India moved HC after FDA acted against its Bhiwandi warehouse for allegedly selling expired food products. Representational Pic

Days after reprimanding the Maharashtra FDA for its drastic action against an Amazon Retail India warehouse, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the e-commerce giant to hand over all expired and perished goods from its 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 Administration (FDA) to file its affidavit in response to Amazon's plea challenging the suspension of its warehouse licence 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 products into the retail market instead of destroying them.

As a stopgap arrangement, the court on Monday directed the petitioner to prepare an inventory of all expired and perished items at the warehouse and hand them over to the concerned FDA officer.

The officer will then take steps, as mandated by law, to dispose of the items, the court stated, adding that Amazon will have to bear the cost of the exercise.

According to the plea, FDA officers visited the warehouse on June 24 and suspended its licence the following day without issuing an improvement notice.

An appeal was subsequently filed before the concerned authority. However, while the appeal was pending, the FDA issued a show-cause notice to the petitioner on July 1 and subsequently cancelled its licence.

The court had on Friday reprimanded the FDA, saying that while the agency was implementing its policy vigorously, it was "trying to kill a mosquito with a sword", and advised it to act in a systematic manner.

The agency has been in the news for a series of raids on food establishments, including some well-known eateries, since IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe was appointed to head the department in May.

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