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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has suspended with immediate effect from the date of detention of its assistant director who was arrested by the CBI on May 5, 2024, in Mumbai, sources said.
FSSAI has also started the process of derecognition of the Reliable Analytical Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., from which the said assistant director had allegedly received a bribe. According to the sources, the action against the laboratory is being taken on the grounds of bringing disrepute to the Food Authority by its activity. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested four people in connection with a case involving the demand and acceptance of a bribe of Rs 1.20 lakh in exchange for the payment of outstanding bills from a private company, an official release said. According to the central agency, the arrested individuals include the assistant director (AD) of the FSSAI, the regional office, in Mumbai, and three private individuals, namely a director, a senior manager, and another representative. A case was registered by CBI against three accused, including the Assistant Director (Technical), FSSAI, Mumbai and two private persons, viz., a director and a senior manager of a Thane-based private company, and another unknown person. The agency noted that the case was registered on allegations that the said FSSAI AD, in connivance with a number of intermediaries, is involved in illegal and corrupt practices of demanding and accepting bribes from food business operators and other interested parties for dishonest discharge of public duty in his capacity as public servant. It was also alleged that the accused FSSAI AD agreed to accept a bribe from the accused senior manager of the private company, who would deliver the bribe on behalf of the director of the said company, in lieu of clearing their pending bills. Further, the CBI laid a trap and caught the accused Assistant Director, FSSAI, red-handed while accepting the bribe of Rs 1,20,000 from the said senior manager and another representative of the private company. All three accused involved in the exchange of bribe money were arrested. Later, the accused director of the private company was also arrested, the agency added. The agency informed that searches were also conducted at the office and residential premises of the accused, which led to the recovery of approximately Rs 37.3 lakh cash, about 45 grammes of gold and documents pertaining to various immovable properties and other incriminating documents. The arrested accused were produced before the competent court and have been remanded to police custody until May 8, 2024, it added. Further investigations are underway. (ANI)
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