Food licence suspension stays as Telangana high court finds safety lapses at sweet maker unit | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Friday refused to revoke the suspension of the food safety licence of G Pulla Reddy Sweets’ manufacturing unit at Sanathnagar, observing that the unit had failed to achieve the hygiene and safety compliance it had assured the court during an earlier hearing.The court, however, also questioned why authorities were not conducting similar inspections against other major sweet manufacturers and adjourned the matter to Nov 18.Hearing a petition filed by Pulla Reddy Sweets, Justice NV Shravan Kumar questioned why authorities were following a “pick-and-choose” policy and not initiating similar drives against several other reputed sweet manufacturers and suppliers in the city.The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG-SAFE) had suspended the unit’s food safety licence on Oct 27 following inspections conducted as part of a statewide crackdown on food manufacturing facilities.During the inspection, officials allegedly found rotten vegetables, rat faeces, expired and mislabelled food products, unhygienic manufacturing conditions and several other violations. Authorities also seized 3,133 kg of food items valued at ₹15.03 lakh.Challenging the suspension, the firm approached the high court on Nov 4. The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the deficiencies pointed out by the authorities had been rectified and assured the court that the unit would fully comply with food safety and hygiene norms. The counsel sought revocation of the suspension, particularly in view of the ongoing festive season and the high public demand for sweets.Taking note of the undertaking, the judge directed the authorities to conduct a fresh inspection and place a report before the court before any orders were passed.However, during an inspection conducted on Nov 5 in the presence of representatives of the unit, food safety authorities reportedly found major hygiene deficiencies, including live cockroach infestation, dead insects on refrigerator lids, dirty utensils, rusted trays and inadequate temperature monitoring, apart from several maintenance-related lapses.Citing the report, P Shravan Kumar Goud, govt pleader for health, medical and family welfare, opposed any relief to the sweets manufacturer. He argued that granting relief in such cases would embolden other entities to continue similar unhygienic practices, thereby endangering public health.“The state govt has taken this issue as a top priority and has initiated a major crackdown to prevent health crisis, and that such drives are taken up across the state regularly,” added Shravan Kumar.Appreciating the govt‘s efforts to address what it termed a “serious issue”, the court questioned the petitioner’s counsel over the continued non-compliance despite the assurances given during the previous hearing.However, when the counsel contended that the deficiencies were similar to those found in any household kitchen and could be rectified, the judge took strong objection, observing that commercial establishments cannot be allowed to operate while putting public health at risk. The court also remarked that such enforcement drives should be undertaken on a larger scale.