Delhi HC Issues Notice On PIL Against Sale Of Dairy Analogues As Paneer

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice on a public interest litigation seeking a crackdown on dairy analogues and non-dairy products allegedly being sold or served as paneer in the national capital, but declined to pass any interim directions for the time being.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma asked the Union Government, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Delhi Government and the Delhi food safety authorities to file their replies within six weeks. The petition, titled Ridhima Singh & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., has been filed by a law student, Ridhima Singh, and advocate Avlokiteshwar Padmapani Sidharth.

Counsel for the petitioners submitted that a person ordering paneer at a hotel or restaurant assumes the dish is made from a dairy product, yet there is no way for a consumer to know whether it is a milk product or an analogue. She said the substitute looks and tastes like paneer and there is no disclosure. Asked by the Court which statutory rights were violated, she pointed to the FSSAI Regulations of 2011 on food production standards and food additives, and submitted that while paneer is rich in protein, analogues have only carbohydrates and no nutritional value.

Citing the festive season of Navratri and Dussehra, counsel prayed for interim relief in the form of sampling. The Bench did not pass any order on this for now. According to a report, the Bench remarked that the authorities were already acting on the issue and had placed statistics before it, saying, "They are doing it, they have placed the statistics (before us) to that effect".

The petition seeks directions to the competent authorities to ensure compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Rules and Regulations framed under it. It contends that paneer is a standardised dairy product under the existing food safety framework, whereas dairy analogues may contain ingredients wholly or partly derived from non-milk sources, such as vegetable fat or vegetable oil.

The plea makes clear that it is not directed against every lawfully manufactured dairy analogue or plant-based product. Its challenge is to products sold, supplied or served as paneer without adequately disclosing their true nature. It states that a consumer who knowingly buys a product correctly disclosed as an analogue makes an informed choice, but one who orders paneer is entitled to a product that meets the statutory description of paneer.

The petitioners highlight that in hotels, restaurants, caterers, eateries and cloud kitchens, a customer ordering dishes such as paneer tikka, kadai paneer or paneer butter masala has no practical means of knowing whether genuine paneer or a non-dairy substitute was used. They argue that such undisclosed substitution raises concerns of consumer awareness, misleading food representations and enforcement of food safety requirements.

The PIL relies on measures taken against analogue or non-dairy paneer in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, contending that the existing legal framework already gives authorities powers to act against non-compliant products without waiting for any amendment to the regulations. It refers specifically to an order of Punjab's food safety authorities prohibiting such paneer for a specified period. It also cites enforcement action allegedly taken by the Delhi Food Safety Department at Okhla Sabzi Mandi in August 2026 against suspected spurious paneer, said to have resulted in the destruction of about 508 kg of the product.

Among the prayers, the petitioners seek to prevent dairy analogues or non-dairy products from being manufactured, supplied, sold or served in Delhi by representing them as paneer. They also ask for coordinated surveillance, regular inspections, sampling and testing of paneer and related products at manufacturing units, wholesale markets, distributors, retail outlets and food service establishments, followed by appropriate action against violations, and for clear disclosure by food businesses on the use of analogue or non-dairy substitutes.

Case Title: Ridhima Singh & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors.