New Delhi, August 25: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted interim protection to ITC Ltd. against possible cancellation of its food licence in connection with a regulatory dispute over the use of “100%” claims on its Aashirvaad M.P. Chakki Atta.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma directed that no decision be taken to cancel the company’s FSSAI licence until the next hearing, while the court examines legal issues surrounding the case.The court listed ITC’s petition for further hearing on September 9.
The dispute relates to directions issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) concerning the use of “100%” claims on food products, packaging and promotional material.
FSSAI had issued an advisory in May 2025 asking food businesses to discontinue the use of such claims. The regulator subsequently issued a notice to ITC on August 10, seeking an explanation over the company’s continued use of certain claims linked to its Aashirvaad M.P. Chakki Atta.The disputed descriptions included claims such as “100% Atta” and “100% Madhya Pradesh Wheat”.
FSSAI also objected to a “0% Maida” claim appearing on the product’s labels and advertisements.Three days after the August 10 notice, the Central Licensing Authority in Kolkata issued an improvement notice directing ITC to remove the disputed claims.
The company was asked to submit a compliance report within 15 days, failing which action including suspension of its FSSAI licence could follow.ITC challenged the regulatory action before the Delhi High Court, arguing that the improvement notice was issued before the expiry of the 30-day period provided to it to respond to the earlier notice.
The company has also alleged that the improvement notice did not adequately explain the reasons for the directions and that the proposed action against its licence was arbitrary and disproportionate.During Tuesday’s hearing, counsel appearing for FSSAI questioned the maintainability of ITC’s petition before the Delhi High Court, pointing out that the latest improvement notice had been issued in Kolkata.
The jurisdiction issue remains to be decided by the court. Justice Sharma said that since the matter required consideration and the courts would be closed, no decision on cancellation of ITC’s licence would be taken until the next date of hearing.
The case is part of a wider regulatory debate over the use of absolute claims such as “100%” in food labelling and advertising.A separate petition by AWL Agri Business Ltd. is also pending before the Delhi High Court in connection with FSSAI notices concerning claims on its Fortune Soya Health Refined Soyabean Oil.
The court is expected to pass an order on the maintainability of that petition on August 31.The latest order provides only interim relief to ITC and does not settle the broader dispute over the legality of the company’s product claims or FSSAI’s regulatory action.
