Bombay High Court Quashes Criminal Case Against Nestlé Over Maggi Safety

The Bombay High Court has quashed a criminal case against Nestlé India for using "substandard" materials for producing "Maggi" and breaching the provisions of the Food Safety Standards (FSS) Act.

The case, filed in 2016, was based on a re-analysis report from the Referral Food Laboratory, Ghaziabad, which found non-compliance with food safety standards.

However, the court ruled that the laboratory was not accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and thus its report was invalid under Section 43(1) FSS Act.

Since an earlier test from a Pune laboratory had cleared Maggi, the court dismissed the prosecution under Section 482 CrPC, emphasizing the importance of using only accredited and recognized labs for food safety analysis.