It seems that the central government is with the Maharashtra government on the issue of reimposing the ban on Maggi noodles in the state.
It is learnt that Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has been consulted to represent Maharashtra government in the Supreme Court on the matter.
The state government has recently announced its intention to appeal against the Bombay high court’s order.
The high court had on August 13 decided to lift the ban on Maggi.
The decision of the court came after samples of Maggi tested in different laboratories came within normal limits. However, not satisfied with the verdict, the state government decided to file an appeal before the apex court.
According to the sources, the Attorney General has been approached to represent the government against Maggi in the apex court. However, when asked, Mr Rohatgi did not deny the information. Instead, he refused to comment.
While announcing the decision, Girish Bapat, food and drugs administration (FDA) minister had said their prime concern is of public health and thus an appeal would be made against the high court order.
The Maharashtra government in July this year had imposed ban on Maggi after it was found to contain more than permissible limits of monosodium glutamate and lead.
Of the total 16 samples collected by Maharashtra FDA, five were found to have lead content of 2.55, 2.59, 2.60, 2.62, 4.66 ppm, which was beyond the permissible limit of 2.5 ppm.
The government is also going to contest Nestle’s claim that state laboratories are not accredited by the NABL (National Accreditation Board For Testing And Calibration Laboratories) and hence their analysis cannot be relied upon. Nestle had used this argument against the ban on Maggi, which was considered by the high court while giving its order.
