‘Where Is Your Research?’: Supreme Court Questions PIL Seeking National Food Safety Task Force, Reserves Order

The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta reserved its order after hearing the petitioner, Dr. KA Paul who appeared in person.

During the hearing, the Court expressed scepticism over the lack of supporting material in the petition. “Other than sermons, what is the averment and what is the research you have done before filing this petition?” the Bench asked, pressing the petitioner to demonstrate the factual foundation of the claims made.

The PIL sought directions for the constitution of a national task force or committee under the supervision of the Supreme Court to ensure effective enforcement of food safety regulations. It also called for a nationwide, time-bound audit and inspection drive covering food manufacturing and processing units, restaurants, and other commercial food establishments.

Responding to the Court’s queries, the petitioner argued that the issue of unsafe, contaminated, and hazardous food affects “almost every citizen” and therefore warranted urgent judicial intervention.

“This is affecting almost every citizen,” the petitioner submitted, emphasising the widespread public health implications of alleged lapses in food safety enforcement.

The Bench, however, indicated that general concerns must be backed by specific data and analysis to justify judicial directions of such scale.

Apart from seeking the constitution of a monitoring body, the plea also urged the Court to direct authorities to strengthen inspection infrastructure, upgrade food testing laboratories, and enhance enforcement mechanisms across States and Union Territories.

Further, the petition sought the creation of a nationwide grievance redressal and compensation mechanism for individuals affected by food safety violations.

The Union government, States, Union Territories, and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India were arrayed as respondents in the matter. While reserving its order, the bench said that a detailed judgment would be passed. 

In a related news, in February the Court had asked Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to consider introducing mandatory front-of-package warning labels (FOPL) on packaged food products high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat. The Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan had observed that such regulatory measures are essential to safeguard citizens’ right to health.

In April last year, court had directed the Expert Committee constituted by the FSSAI to prepare its recommendation and submit a Report within 3 months. On 30th January 2026, a compliance affidavit affirmed by Dr. Kavitha Ramasamy, Joint Director, FSSAI was filed before the Supreme Court. FSSAI told the court by way of a compliance affidavit that it intends to conduct further research and undertake a systematic mapping of a representative sample of different varieties of packaged foods across both solid and liquid categories. It further intends to conduct surveys among consumers to assess the extent of usage of label information; conduct periodic review of the FoPNL trends globally and ensure wider stakeholder consultation with the industry; small, medium and micro enterprises.

"Prima-facie, we are of the view that whatever exercise has been undertaken so far has not yielded any positive or good result. The PIL was filed with a particular purpose. It raised an important issue as regards the right to health of the citizens of this country. Today, what has been suggested by the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner also makes some sense and we want the authority to take this aspect into consideration. The suggestion is that on the wrapper/packet of any pre-packaged food product, there must be warning in the form of front of-package labelling", the bench had noted.