'Recurring Issue': Bombay High Court Questions Whether FSSAI Or Customs Should Draw Samples For Testing Imported Food
Saksham Vaishya
13 Aug 2026 3:50 PM IST
The Bombay High Court has observed that the issue of whether samples of imported food items should be drawn by authorised officers appointed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) or by Customs Officers and sent to the Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL) is a recurring one. The Court, therefore, directed the Revenue Authority to file its stand on the issue.
A Division Bench of Justice B. P. Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla was hearing a writ petition filed by Indu Shekhar seeking relief concerning the detention of consignments of food items, among other reliefs.
The Court noted that the basic issue was whether, when food items are imported into the country, the sample should be drawn by authorised officers appointed by FSSAI and thereafter sent to laboratories approved by FSSAI, or whether Customs Officers could, even before samples were drawn by FSSAI, draw samples and send them to CRCL.
The petitioner submitted that Customs Officers in many cases draw samples and send them to CRCL and that the petitioner thereafter comes to the Court when the CRCL report is found to be incorrect.
The petitioner therefore submitted that, to obviate this problem going ahead, whenever any food item is imported into the country, the authorised officer of FSSAI should draw the sample and thereafter send it for testing to an approved laboratory.
The Court found substance in the submission, and observed:
“After hearing the parties, we find that this issue is a recurring one. Though in the facts of the present case prayer clauses (a), (b) and (d) have worked themselves out, we issue Rule in the above Writ Petition only in relation to prayer clause (c).”
The Revenue was directed to file an affidavit laying out its stand on the arguments advanced by the petitioner by September 3, 2026, with liberty to the petitioner to file a rejoinder by September 10, 2026. The matter was posted for hearing and final disposal on September 17, 2026.
Case Title: Indu Shekhar v. Union of India [Writ Petition No. 8289 of 2026]
