Justice Sachin Datta directed that FSSAI will not offer result to the orders dated October 14 and 15, 2025 insofar as they worry the petitioner.
“It is further agreed that till the said representation is decided in accordance with law and after affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner, and duly taking into account the contentions raised in the present petition, the impugned order dated 14.10.2025 and 15.10.2025 shall not be given effect to, qua the petitioner.”
-Justice Sachin Datta
The petition challenged FSSAI’s abrupt choice to withdraw its earlier orders dated July 14, 2022 and February 2, 2024, which had actually allowed food company operators with legitimate signed up hallmarks consisting of “ORS” to continue utilizing them with clear disclaimers mentioning that the items were not oral rehydration salt formulas suggested by WHO.
JNTL, which makes and markets the popular hydration beverage ORSL, argued that the withdrawal had actually been effected without previous notification, assessment, or hearing, in infraction of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011 and the Delhi High Court’s 2021 order in Rupa Singh v Union of India, which needed FSSAI to carry out stakeholder assessments before taking any negative action on the problem.
The business sent that the orders exposed it to possible enforcement actions, consisting of item seizures, license suspensions and criminal charges, regardless of its complete compliance with FSSAI’s earlier instructions. JNTL mentioned that items worth roughly 155– 180 crore were presently in the supply chain which the abrupt turnaround would trigger permanent damage to its brand name and goodwill developed over 20 years.
The petition likewise described the view of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, which had actually validated that using “ORS” with prefixes or suffixes might form part of a composite mark under Section 17 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. JNTL argued that FSSAI’s earlier position -backing that position and accepted before the High Court of Telangana -was binding and might not have actually been reversed without following due procedure.
The High Court’s order guarantees that no coercive action will be taken versus JNTL till FSSAI reassesses its position after giving the business a hearing.
JNTL was represented by Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Pragyan Sharma with Advocates Gawree Gokhale, Alip