The Maharashtra government has moved the Bombay High Court against the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), challenging the constitutional validity of several central regulatory provisions and accusing the apex food safety body of creating an “illegal parallel system” that usurps state powers.
Petition Challenges Centralization of Regulatory Rights
The petition was filed through Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. Mundhe, known for leading intensive food safety crackdowns against unhygienic practices by major brands across the state, contends that FSSAI has systematically stripped state commissioners of statutory licensing and enforcement authority under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
According to the state government, FSSAI unlawfully appointed “Central Food Safety Officers” and established a parallel centralized administration mechanism. The plea specifically targets an FSSAI order issued in May 2023, which barred state-level officers from inspecting centrally licensed establishments and funneled all business registrations through the centralized Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) portal.
”FoSCoS was designed so that food businesses to the maximum extent are brought under the purview of the Central Licensing Authority, effectively taking them outside the inspection remit of local officers,” the state’s petition highlighted.
Demands and Judicial Proceedings
Beyond the inspection ban, the Maharashtra government has challenged a March 2026 notification that raised financial turnover thresholds for central licensing without public consultation. The petition requests:
- Annulment of Regulations: Striking down contested provisions under the 2011 regulations and subsequent amendments.
- Interim Stay: Suspending the May 2023 order that restricts state officers from inspecting centrally licensed units.
- Database Transfer: Ordering FSSAI to hand over all state-related FoSCoS database records back to the Maharashtra FDA.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh C. Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna will hear the state’s writ petition.
Under the FSS Act, 2006, FSSAI is tasked with laying down national standards, accrediting testing laboratories, and advising central and state governments on policy. However, Maharashtra asserts that actual ground-level enforcement, inspection, and local administration were constitutionally intended to remain decentralized under state food safety commissioners.
