Maharashtra Takes Food Safety Fight To Bombay HC, Seeks To Reclaim Inspection Powers From FSSAI

The Maharashtra government has challenged several central food safety regulations before the Bombay High Court, alleging that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has expanded its enforcement powers at the expense of state authorities.

The petition, filed through Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, questions the Centre’s regulatory framework for food businesses and seeks to restore the inspection powers of state officials, PTI reported. The court has scheduled the next hearing for November 26.

At the centre of the dispute is the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which Maharashtra argues was intended to decentralise food safety administration by placing enforcement responsibilities with state commissioners, their designated officers and local bodies. The state alleges that subsequent regulatory changes have weakened this arrangement.

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Maharashtra Challenges FSSAI’s Inspection Framework

The petitioners have also challenged an order passed by the FSSAI chief executive officer on May 12, 2023, that has, as per the petition, prevented state food safety authorities from implementing the law at places with central licences.

Maharashtra argues that the FSSAI had in fact created a "parallel enforcement structure" when it had delegated the powers by appointing Central Licensing Authorities, Central Food Safety Officers and Food Analysts under Section 10(5) of the Act.

The petition alleges that these appointments were an 'usurpation' of powers of the Commissioner of Food Safety and limited the powers of the state officials (Food Safety Officers, Designated Officers and Food Analysts) to carry out inspections and enforcement actions against centrally licensed food businesses.

The state contends that the sole role of the primary regulator ought to be to require all food safety standards and check all imported foods at the border, and not conduct routine inspections of food outlets in the home state.

Licensing Changes Also Under Challenge

Maharashtra has also questioned amendments introduced by the FSSAI in March 2026 that revised the turnover thresholds for food businesses requiring registration, a state licence or a central licence.

According to the plea, the changes were finalised without first being published for public feedback. The state has termed the move a “blatant violation of Section 23 of the General Clauses Act, 1897”.

The petition further challenges the mandatory implementation of the online Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS). Maharashtra alleges that the portal’s framework shifts a greater number of food businesses into the central licensing system, limiting the ability of state authorities to carry out inspections independently.

State Seeks Cancellation Of Regulations, Transfer Of Records

The government of Maharashtra has challenged provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, 2018 Recruitment Regulations and 2026 Amendment Regulations before the HC.

The state has filed for a temporary stay of the FSSAI's May 2023 directive banning inspection of centrally licensed units until a final order is passed.

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It has further pleaded before the court that the FSSAI should hand over the FoSCoS database records to the state authorities on the ground that the records are crucial for the state to perform its food safety enforcement duties.

The petition alleges that Mundhe had sought the "removal of injustice and injury caused to him and his officers and the people of the State of Maharashtra". The case will be taken up by the Bombay High Court in its next hearing on November 26.