Raut claimed that the amount allegedly sought to settle a โclosing noticeโ had risen from Rs 10,000โRs 12,000 to between Rs 75,000 and Rs 2 lakh following the FDAโs recent enforcement actions. He identified the departmentโs headquarters in Bandra and its Thane office as centres of the alleged activity, and said small business owners in Nagpur, Pune, Solapur, Wardha and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had complained to him.
The letter also cited an allegation involving a quick-commerce company in Thane. Raut claimed that two Designated Officers demanded Rs 17โ18 lakh to restore its suspended licence and called for a separate investigation into the case.
Raut questioned action taken on the basis of unverified social media complaints, including reports of rodents, and sought physical checks before raids triggered by customer complaints. He also alleged that small food businesses faced stringent action while large pharmaceutical companies with serious compliance issues sometimes avoided scrutiny because of political or corporate influence.
He urged Mundhe to investigate the alleged payments linked to closing notices and licence restoration, and to take disciplinary action against officers found to have bypassed the required notice, hearing and suspension process. Raut also asked the FDA to publish the dates, reasons and hearing summaries for licence suspensions and restorations so that its decisions could be scrutinised.
Raut said protecting public health should not provide cover for extortion and urged Mundhe to address the allegations within the department alongside his enforcement drive. He has forwarded a copy of the letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
With IANS inputs
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