HC relief for J&J, can restart production at Mulund factory

In a relief for the baby products maker Johnson and Johnson (J&J), the Bombay High Court today allowed the company to restart the manufacturing of baby powder at its Mulund unit, which had been stopped upon the order of Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration.
FDA had ordered shut down of the plant for not treating a batch of talcum powder for ethylene oxide residue in 2007.
The division bench of Justices S J Vazifdar and K R Shriram was hearing a petition filed by Johnson and Johnson challenging the June 24 order of FDA appellate authority.
While allowing resumption of production, court today referred the matter back to the appellate authority for a reconsideration, saying that "the proportionality (of the punishment vis a vis the offence) issue needs to be seen".

In March, FDA cancelled the licence of the Mulund factory after it found that 15 batches of baby talcum powder manufactured there in 2007 were sterilised using ethylene oxide, a chemical that is widely believed to be carcinogenic.
FDA alleged that the company did not register the process with it, and failed to conduct tests for traces of ethylene oxide in the powder.

The company challenged the order, but in June the cancellation of license was upheld by the FDA's appellate authority.
Senior counsel Rafiq Dada, appearing for the company, said the company was not using ethylene oxide treatment process anymore.

FDA counsel Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had, however, opposed the petition and said the company had not expressed any remorse even after the issue came to light.