On Thursday, the Bombay high court in a major relief to Maggi noodles manufacturer Nestle India Ltd has quashed the orders of the Indian food regulators banning the nine variants of  noodles in the country after observing that principles of natural justice were not followed. However, Maggi will not be up for sale in the market immediately.

“Even though it’s a 2-minute noodles, it took us a lot of time,” said the Bombay High Court. While ordering that India’s food regulator had acted in an “arbitrary” fashion when it banned the nine variants of Maggi noodles manufactured by food giant Nestle India.

A division bench of thec. Nestle samples must be sent for fresh testing by sending five samples of each variant of noodles to three independent laboratories in Punjab, Hyderabad and Jaipur which were accredited with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

Maggi-lovers rejoice! Bombay High Court lifts ban:

The samples for fresh testing would be taken out of from the 750 samples preserved by the company following the ban. According to the sources a huge stock of Maggi noodles was destroyed by Nestle after the ban was imposed by the food regulators.

Justices VM Kanade and BP Colabawalla set aside the June 5 order of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The food regulator has made a statement that Maggi instant noodles from the market terming them  as “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption.

The court said the samples should be analysed within six weeks in the three laboratories and if tests prove that the content of Lead in the product is within permissible limit, then the company Nestle India can resume manufacturing of maggi and can start selling Maggi in India..

2-minute Maggi noodles makes a comeback:

The company claimed it has been operating in India for 30 years, in additional to having a worldwide reach. “Children are being told that they are consuming poison, which is worrisome for its credibility and reputation,” it was argued.

Nestle filed against a petition FSSAI’s June 5 order banning nine variants of Maggi, and Maharashtra government’s order prohibiting their sale and the court was hearing about the petition. FSSAI has reacted to the petition made by Nestle and had directed Nestle India to withdraw the nine variants of Maggi noodles which were found unsafe from the market and to stop the further production and sale of the same products.

Nestle India has informed Bombay Stock Exchange about the high court’s order, lifting the ban subject to certain conditions.