Maharashtra moves Bombay High Court against FSSAI; says it usurped State's powers

The Maharashtra government has approached the Bombay High Court challenging the constitutional validity of several central food safety regulations and orders, alleging that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has unconstitutionally established a parallel enforcement regime that usurps the State government's powers [State of Maharashtra v. Union of India & Ors.].

The petition, filed through the State Commissioner of Food Safety, asserts that the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA) aims to decentralise food regulation.

Under the Act, licensing and enforcement powers belong to State Commissioners and their designated officers.

The State alleges that the Centre and FSSAI have steadily dismantled this decentralised regime.

It specifically challenges the 2011 Licensing Regulations, the 2018 Recruitment Regulations, and the 2026 Amendment Regulations.

According to the plea, the FSSAI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) exercised powers unlawfully by creating posts like ‘Central Food Safety Officer’ and ‘Central Licensing Authority’. 

The State argues these roles are foreign to the statutory framework and that the CEO's enforcement role is limited to imported food articles, not domestic ground enforcement.

The dispute between the State and FSSAI escalated following a directive issued by the latter on May 12, 2023 which barred state food safety officers from inspecting businesses holding a central license.

The state has claimed that the online Food Safety Compliance System portal (FoSCoS) was deployed to systematically bring food businesses under central jurisdiction.

The petition has also challenged the notifications dated March 10 and March 13 which revised turnover thresholds for food business licensing. 

The State claims these amendments were enacted without prior notice inviting public objections and it amounted to violation of Section 23 of the General Clauses Act.

The petition has sought the following directions from the Court:

• quash the unconstitutional regulations; 

• stay the May 2023 order restricting state officers from inspecting centrally licensed units; and 

• Direct the FSSAI to transfer all licensing databases back to the respective state-designated officers.

The petition will be heard by the division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh C Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna on November 26.