The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday sought a response from the state government on why Maggi noodles was banned in the state. The court asked the state government to respond on June 15, while hearing a petition filed by Nestle India Limited, which has sought cancellation of the government order on grounds that the noodles were safe for consumption.Nestle India contended before the court that the orders of the state government banning sale, storage, production and distribution of Maggi in the hill state needed to be quashed with immediate effect. The Food Safety Commissioner had on June 3 banned Maggi in the state after traces of lead were found in some samples.
An official told IANS that the state government had acted on complaints and lab reports under powers vested in it by the Food Safety Standards Act 2006. Hearing the petition moved by the Nestle India, a single bench of Justice Alok Singh has asked the advocate general to furnish before the court the findings of the laboratory report that triggered the ban on the hitherto popular snack.The next date of hearing has been fixed for June 15. Uttarakhand on Wednesday had clamped down on Maggi and had banned it for 90 days. Maggi is a popular snack in far flung areas of the hill state specially as the areas hot by the vagaries of weather often depend on it in absence of normal food.