Sanjay Raut writes to Tukaram Mundhe, alleges extortion racket within Maharashtra FDA

Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Raut has written to Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe alleging that some officials are using the fear created by the departments ongoing enforcement drive to extort money from hotels restaurants and other businessesIn his letter dated September 27 Raut sought immediate action and an independent inquiry into the alleged extortionThe allegations have not been independently established The FDAs response to Rauts allegations was not immediately availableShri Tukaram_IndIAS ji Dev_Fadnavis FDA_MAHARASHTRA pictwittercomU1Q6BZtsNDmdash Sanjay Raut rautsanjay61 September 28 2026Raut praises Mundhes FDA crackdownRaut began his letter by praising Mundhes enforcement drive since he took charge of the FDA in May 2026 He welcomed action against adulterated paneer milk unhygienic hotel kitchens and expired products saying such measures were important from a public health perspectiveHowever Raut alleged that the other side of this action is equally shocking claiming that some FDA officials were taking advantage of the fear created among traders by the crackdownAlleged threats over licence suspensionRaut alleged that Designated Officers Assistant Commissioners and Food Safety Officers were threatening hotels restaurants and other businesses with licence suspension and demanding money to avoid or resolve such actionHe claimed that the alleged rate for a closing notice had increased from around Rs 1000012000 before Mundhe took charge to between Rs 75000 and Rs 2 lakh after the enforcement drive intensifiedRaut said businesses were being placed in a double bind facing action for violations while allegedly being pressured to pay money to avoid licencerelated consequencesBandra Thane offices named in allegationsRaut alleged that the third floor of the FDA headquarters in Bandra and the departments Thane office had emerged as key locations where officials were allegedly demanding moneyHe also claimed that traders from Nagpur Pune Solapur Wardha and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had approached him with complaints related to closing noticesRaut questions licence suspension processIn his letter Raut claimed that FDA officials were not following the prescribed procedure before suspending licencesHe said the process should involve an inspection notice a period for compliance an improvement notice a further period for corrective action and a hearing before the Designated Officer According to Raut licence suspension should follow only if satisfactory improvement is not made after these stepsHe alleged that immediate suspension based on issues such as rats cockroaches or expired goods was being used to threaten businessesRs 1718 lakh collection allegation in ThaneRaut also alleged that a pair of Designated Officers in Thane had collected Rs 1718 lakh from a quickcommerce company to facilitate the restoration of a suspended licenceThe allegation has not been independently verifiedHe further claimed that one hotels licence was suspended over a social media post alleging the presence of a rat although according to him officials had not personally seen a rat He also questioned whether all customer complaints prompting raids were genuine and independently verifiedRaut seeks independent probeRaut called for an independent inquiry into what he described as a closing notice rate card and allegations of money being collected in exchange for restoring suspended licencesHis demands include making verification of customer complaints mandatory taking disciplinary action against officials who bypass the legal noticeandhearing process and conducting an independent probe into the alleged Rs 1718 lakh collection in ThaneHe also demanded that the FDA make public the reasons dates and hearing summaries relating to licence suspensions and reinstatementsRaut further alleged that smaller businesses were facing stricter action while powerful pharmaceutical interests were being treated differently and urged Mundhe to demonstrate equal enforcement across sectors