Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday declined to grant immediate relief to a Thane based restaurant that is facing action from the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for allegedly serving analogue paneer, a banned non dairy substitute.

The eatery, Udupi Swaad, had approached the court seeking a stay on the suspension of its licence. However, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad refused to intervene at this stage, saying the establishment could not expect leniency after allegedly serving food that misled customers.

The court observed that consumers have a right to know exactly what they are eating and questioned whether the restaurant had clearly informed customers that the paneer used in its dishes was not made from milk. The bench also rejected the argument that the FDA should have first issued an improvement notice before taking action.

The restaurant's licence was suspended by the FDA on August 11 after it was found to have been serving analogue paneer. The eatery challenged the order in court, arguing that the regulator should have provided an opportunity to correct the violation before suspending operations.

During the hearing, the judges strongly questioned the restaurant's conduct and said that the establishment must face consequences if it had passed off a substitute product as paneer. The bench also noted that customers who were served such food may have grounds to seek compensation.

The court told the petitioner that it could not claim unfair treatment when the alleged violation involved serving an ingredient customers had not been told about. The judges said the matter would be examined further, but refused to grant immediate protection to the restaurant.

Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government imposed a one year ban on the manufacture and sale of analogue or non dairy paneer, citing public health concerns and violations of food safety regulations. According to the government order, strict penalties may apply in cases where unsafe food causes death, including imprisonment and heavy fines.

Analogue paneer is typically made using vegetable oils, starches, emulsifiers and other additives instead of milk fat. It is cheaper than regular paneer, but generally contains lower protein content and is not considered a dairy product.

The High Court has asked the FDA to file its reply affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on September 7.