On Monday, the division bench of Justice R. Mukhopadhyay and Justice Deepak Roshan presided over the case concerning the sale of adulterated food items in Jharkhand. 

Justice Mukhopadhyay expressed vehement displeasure, highlighting the public health risks posed by consuming such contaminated food. He criticized the government for its apparent inaction, stating that despite instructions to establish food testing labs in four districts, concrete progress reports have not been provided.

The court has asked the government what steps have been taken to stop the sale of adulterated food items. The court has scheduled the next hearing of the case on March 12.

The court said that among the 24 districts of the state, only Namkum in Ranchi has set up food labs for testing food items. The number of food labs should have been at least four. Similarly, the number of mobile vans for checking adulterated food items in the state should have been at least 24, so that adulterated food items could be checked in all the districts of the state.

The court asked JPSC as to why the recruitment process for the advertisement issued to fill 56 posts of Food Safety Officers including Food Analyst, Micro Biologist etc. in the year 2023 has not been completed yet.

During the hearing, the amicus curiae told the court that among the 24 districts of the state, only Namkum in Ranchi has a food lab, there are two mobile vans for food sample collection in the state, but even in this there is no adequate arrangement for food testing. It takes time for food samples from other districts of the state to reach Namkum Lab, hence the food samples may get spoiled.