New Delhi, October 1 : Nestle India Ltd, on Wednesday, told the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission that it is being “singled out,” making an accusation of government bias. The food giant has been allegedly put to distress through banning of its popular snack, Maggi 2-Minute Noodles while no action was being taken against manufacturers of similar products.
A Division Bench headed by Justice V.K. Jain, issued notice to the government on Nestle India’s plea and sought its response by October 8.
It also issued a notice to Nestle India on a separate plea filed by the government seeking further testing of Maggi Noodles. To this, Senior Advocate Arvind Kumar Nigam, appearing for Nestle, contended that this issue was already settled by the Bombay High Court when it held that “the accreditation of the labs (where the samples were sent for testing) was questionable.
The company also alleged that the ban had caused unemployment of around 9,000 vendors 10,000 suppliers and the estimated loss is nearly Rs. 250 crore.
“It has caused a huge damage to our reputation… to the extent that my competitors are making fun of me (company). While my product has been banned, government is not taking any action against any manufacturer of similar products… I am being singled out,” Nigam was quoted as saying.
NCDRC had issued a notice to Nestle India on August 17 on the government’s suit and the company had to reply on Wednesday. The suit was filed in public interest on August 11 alleging unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements by Maggi instant noodles.
The Bench also stated on Wednesday that the final hearing is slated to be heard on October 30, after the relevant records have been filed.
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