Centre gets notice on Nestle plea on Maggi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Centre on a fresh appeal from Nestle India Ltd challenging the orders passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directing more tests on its Maggi noodles.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant after hearing senior counsel Harish Salve for Nestle posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday, when the question of grant of interim relief will be considered.

The Central government has filed a class action suit before NCDRC against Nestle, alleging unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements by the firm. In its order the NCDRC said, “It cannot be disputed that some doubt on the safety of the product will continue to persist till issue involved is finally decided by way of an adjudication based on the laboratory reports. But the product in question being a food product of mass consumption by almost every section of the society, it is imperative to test and analyse its ingredients in an exhaustive manner, before a clean chit can be given to it.”

The commission said that a number of laboratories, though not accredited with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratory had reported excess lead in the samples analysed by them. By two orders dated 15 October and 10 December, it ordered testing of several samples of Maggi noodles, a ban on which was quashed in August by the Bombay high court. Nestle challenged the two orders on the ground that they were contradictory to the orders passed by the Bombay High Court. It prayed for stay of all further tests directed by NCDRC.