The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) from taking any decision to cancel ITC Limited’s food licence over the company’s use of “100%” claims on its Aashirvaad MP Chakki Atta product.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma passed the interim order while hearing ITC’s plea challenging notices issued by FSSAI directing the company to remove claims including “100% Atta”, “100% Madhya Pradesh Wheat” and “0% Maida” from the product’s packaging and advertisements.

The Court, however, noted that it was yet to determine whether the Delhi High Court had jurisdiction to hear the matter. FSSAI has challenged the territorial jurisdiction of the Court, pointing out that the latest notice against ITC was issued by its Kolkata authority.

Pending a decision on the jurisdictional issue, the Court directed that no action be taken to cancel ITC’s food licence. The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 9.

The dispute dates back to May 2025, when FSSAI issued an advisory asking food businesses to refrain from using “100%” claims on labels, packaging and advertisements.

On August 10, FSSAI issued a show-cause notice to ITC alleging non-compliance with the advisory and granted the company 30 days to respond. However, just three days later, a Kolkata authority issued an improvement notice directing ITC to remove the disputed claims and submit a compliance report within 15 days. The notice warned that failure to comply could lead to suspension of the company’s food licence.

ITC has contended that the improvement notice was issued before it had an opportunity to respond to the show-cause notice. The company has also challenged the validity of FSSAI’s May 2025 advisory, arguing that restrictions of this nature cannot be imposed merely through an advisory.

The company has further maintained that FSSAI has not alleged that Aashirvaad MP Chakki Atta contains maida or wheat sourced from outside Madhya Pradesh.