Delhi High Court asks government and FSSAI to answer petition to ban fake paneer

The Delhi High Court, through a bench of acting chief justice Nitin Sambre and justice Sanjay Sharma, has sought replies from the Centre, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Delhi government within six weeks on a petition to stop the production and sale of analogue paneer. The suit, filed by law student Ridhima Singh and lawyer AP Siddharth, claims that products replacing milk constituents with non-dairy ingredients are being passed off as genuine paneer.

It cites enforcement actions in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh and urges similar measures in Delhi, a major market for dairy. The petition also asks the Commissioner of Food Safety to ban such manufacture and to require existing analogue products to remove the term "paneer" from their branding. Delhi government standing counsel Sameer Vashisth indicated that the administration is already acting against any instances that come to its notice. The case follows a recent FSSAI draft amendment proposing to prohibit the sale of paneer made from non-milk constituents.