Failed quality test: Patanjali Foods to appeal court order jailing three

A case in this regard was registered in 2021 after reports found the samples did not meet the food safety standards

Patanjali Foods is planning to appeal the order issued by the Uttarakhand Pithoragarh court, which sentenced three individuals to six months’ imprisonment for violating food safety standards in the production of Patanjali Navratna Elaichi Son Papdi.

In a statement to Business Standard, the company’s spokesperson said, “We are going to file an appeal and we trust we will come out clean.”

According to a stock exchange filing, Patanjali Foods said, “A case was filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Pithoragarh, against the nominee of Patanjali Ayurved (PAL) and its distributor. The recent court conviction pertains solely to the nominees of PAL and its distributor, who intend to challenge the conviction order.”

 

The company further clarified that the food business came under the purview of Patanjali Foods only in July 2022, and therefore the company bears no connection to this matter. “The company remains dedicated to transparency and integrity in all its operations,” it said in its exchange filing.

Assistant Prosecution Officer Ritesh Verma mentioned that Pithoragarh CJM Sanjay Singh, on Saturday, also levied fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 on the convicted individuals, in addition to the jail sentence.

Verma said that the court sentenced Leeladhar Pathak, a shopkeeper from Berinag town in Pithoragarh, to six months imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for selling the product.

The court also sentenced Ajay Joshi, assistant manager of Patanjali’s authorised representative Kanhaji Distributors located in Ramnagar, Nainital, to six months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.

Abhishek Kumar, assistant general manager of the company, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000.

Verma explained that the three individuals were convicted under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006.

After collecting samples of Patanjali Navratna Elaichi Son Papdi from Pathak’s shop on September 17, 2019, they were sent to the National Food Laboratory in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, for testing, Verma added.

A case regarding this matter was registered in 2021 after reports revealed that the samples did not meet food safety standards.

With inputs from PTI