High Court observed prima facie Johnson & Johnson adhered to requirements

A division Bench had received three reports from independent laboratories in sealed envelopes, two of which found that the powder samples complied with the prescribed pH value

The Bombay High Court on Friday observed that prima facie, Johnson & Johnson company adhered to all legal requirements while manufacturing baby powder at their plant, in Mumbai.

A division Bench of Justices S.V. Gangapurwala and S.G. Chapalgaonkar received three reports from independent laboratories in sealed envelopes, two of which found that the powder samples complied with the prescribed pH value.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the company challenging the order by the State government, cancelling the manufacturing license of its baby powder in Mumbai.

The plea mentions, “On September 15, the Joint Commissioner and Licensing Authority, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Maharashtra issued an order cancelling the company’s license, effective from December 15, 2022. In December 2018, the FDA during a random inspection took samples of the baby powder and found it to be “not of standard quality.”

The State had then revoked the licence citing public interest and in September 2022, cancelled it and directed the company to recall the stock of the powder from the market.

In the last hearing, senior advocate Ravi Kadam appearing for the company said FDA did not issue a show cause notice to its client and urged that the product samples be sent to the Central Drug Testing Laboratory. The court had then directed the samples to be sent to more than one laboratory as it did not want any margin of error. The State counsel had suggested names of three laboratories. The court directed the FDA to collect the samples and send them to the laboratories within three days.

Meanwhile, the court had permitted the company to manufacture the product at its own risk and directed the FDA to send fresh samples of the baby powder from the Mulund facility to the three laboratories, for testing.