A Division Bench of Justices Sharmila U. Deshmukh and Neeraj P. Dhote has quashed the appellate authority's order and revoked the suspension of a Karad hotel's FSSAI licence, holding that licence suspension under Section 32 of the Food Safety and Standards Act exists to protect public health and cannot be continued indefinitely once the establishment rectifies deficiencies and achieves 'exemplar' compliance — measured here at 97%, or 106 out of 110 points — on re-inspection.
The Court held that any penalty for sales made during the suspension period must instead be pursued separately under Sections 55 and 63 of the Act, rather than being achieved indirectly by simply keeping the suspension alive after the underlying deficiencies have already been demonstrably corrected.
The ruling gives food businesses facing an FSSAI licence suspension clear appellate authority that demonstrated, verified compliance on re-inspection should end the suspension promptly — regulators must instead point to a specific, continuing public-health justification if suspension is to be maintained after compliance has genuinely been restored.