Food adulteration serious health hazard, Telangana govt tells HC | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: The state govt has informed the Telangana high court that food adulteration has become a serious issue and a grave health hazard and that, to curb the menace, police are taking strict action against those involved in such activities.The submissions were made before Justice J Sreenivas Rao, who was hearing a petition filed by businessman Vikas Agarwal seeking to quash a food adulteration case registered against him in Balapur, Hyderabad.Public prosecutor Palle Nageshwar Rao, opposing the petition, said spices and other food products adulterated by such persons were entering homes across the state, including those of judges, and that granting any relief to those involved in such activities, on any grounds, would encourage them to operate with impunity, thereby increasing health risks to citizens.The judge refused to grant any interim relief to the petitioner and adjourned the matter to Aug 24 for further hearing.Police booked a case against Vikas and his associates after raiding a unit where they allegedly made adulterated spices. They seized large quantities of inferior-quality cumin and caraway seeds, allegedly adulterated by mixing them with industrial-grade, non-edible dye and oil used for polishing.Vikas’ counsel, however, claimed that he was not present at the premises when the raid was conducted and that no adulterated food articles, machinery, dye, oil or other incriminating material had been recovered either from his possession or from any premises under his control.The petition further argued that the allegations against him were based solely on the alleged disclosure statement of another accused, recorded while in police custody, and that there was no independent documentary evidence, scientific report, food analyst’s report, eyewitness account or transaction linking him to the alleged offence.The counsel further argued that matters relating to food adulteration were governed exclusively by the Food Safety and Standards Act, which provides a specific statutory mechanism for inspection, seizure, sampling, analysis and prosecution, and that the police could not bypass this procedure by invoking provisions of the BNS.