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| Court rescinds ban, allows Johnson & Johnson to make, sell baby powder | | | agencies
MUMBAI, Jan 11: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday permitted Johnson & Johnson to manufacture, sell and distribute its baby powder and quashed three orders of the Maharashtra government revoking the company's license and asking it to stop the product manufacture and sale, terming them as "stringent, unreasonable and unfair".
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and S G Dige also came down heavily on the state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its delay in carrying out tests on a sample of the company's baby powder seized in December 2018.
The bench noted that while maintaining standards of quality and safety are of utmost importance for cosmetic products, at the same time it does not seem reasonable to shut down the whole manufacturing process when there is a slight deviation in one of the products.
Such an approach would result in considerable amount of "commercial chaos and wastefulness", it said.
The orders of suspension and revoking of license were passed based on the report of a lab which found the powder contained higher pH level than prescribed.
The HC in its order on Wednesday noted the fresh tests conducted showed all batches of the baby power product were compliant with the norms prescribed.
The court passed its order on a petition filed by the company challenging three orders of the state government - one dated September 15, 2022 cancelling the license, the second dated September 20, 2022 ordering it to immediately stop the manufacturing and sale of the baby powder product, and the third passed on October 15, 2022 by the state minister concerned upholding the earlier two orders.
The HC in its order said, "The executive cannot use a hammer to kill an ant. Is it always inevitable that when there is a single case of deviation or non-compliance (to prescribed norms) by a product the only option left with the regulatory authority is to cancel or revoke the license of the manufacturing company?". |
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