Maharashtra takes FSSAI to Bombay High Court over food inspection powers

The Maharashtra government has gone to the Bombay High Court against the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), arguing that the national food regulator has taken over licensing and inspection powers that the law gives to the states. The writ petition, filed through the state's Commissioner of Food Safety, came before a bench led by Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi on Friday, October 23, 2026, which listed it for hearing on November 26, 2026. FSSAI's response has not been reported, and the court has not yet ruled on any of the state's claims.

Most Indians never think about who inspects the sweet shop, the dairy or the packaged-food factory near them, but the answer decides how quickly adulterated food is caught. Under the 2006 Act, FSSAI writes the national standards, while each state has a Commissioner of Food Safety and food safety officers who license businesses, collect samples and launch prosecutions. Large businesses, such as big manufacturers, importers and units working across several states, take a central licence from FSSAI; smaller ones take state licences or a basic registration.

Maharashtra's case is that, over the years, FSSAI has built what the state calls a parallel enforcement system on top of this arrangement. Its main complaint is the May 2023 order that, according to the petition, barred state officers from inspecting centrally licensed premises. The state argues that this leaves some of the largest food businesses in Maharashtra outside the reach of its own inspectors, even though the law, in its reading, makes the state commissioner responsible for enforcement within the state. It also argues that FSSAI's chief executive had no power to create new central posts that the Act does not name.

The timing is notable. The petition comes in the middle of the festive season, when states including Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana have been running large drives against adulterated ghee, khoya, paneer and sweets. Those drives depend on state officers being able to walk into a unit, take samples and send them to a laboratory. Who may inspect which premises is therefore not only a legal question but a practical one for the safety of food on Indian plates, including the traditional foods that dominate Diwali and wedding-season buying.

These are the state's arguments, set out in its petition. FSSAI has not, according to the reports, filed a reply yet, and its side of the dispute is not known. Courts often take months to settle questions about how powers are divided between a central authority and the states.

Short-term: Nothing changes for food businesses or consumers until the court acts. The current licensing system and FSSAI's inspection rules remain in force while the case is pending.

Long-term: If the court accepts the state's arguments, state food safety officers could regain the power to inspect large, centrally licensed units, and other states could make similar claims. If the court backs FSSAI, the present split, in which the national regulator oversees big businesses directly, would be confirmed.

Who is affected: Food manufacturers, importers and large chains holding central licences in Maharashtra; state and central food safety officials; and consumers who rely on inspections to keep adulterated food off the market.

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