HC revokes Johnson & Johnson licence; allows it to manufacture, sell baby powder

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (January 11) quashed two orders passed by the Maharashtra government, revoking the license of Johnson & Johnson company to manufacture, sell and distribute its baby powder products, terming them as stringent, unreasonable and unfair.

The latest order by a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and S G Dige allows the company to manufacture, sell and distribute its products.

The bench passed its order on a petition filed by the company challenging two orders of the state government – one dated September 15, 2022, cancelling the license and the second dated September 20, 2022, ordering it to immediately stop the manufacturing and sale of the baby powder product.

Also read: Johnson & Johnson to end sales of baby powder with talc globally in 2023

The bench said that while asking the company to maintain standards of quality and safety for cosmetic products is a pertinent point, it is unreasonable to shut down the whole manufacturing process when there is a slight deviation in one of the products.

“The executive cannot use a hammer to kill an ant. Is it always inevitable that when there is a single case of deviation or non-compliance (to prescribed norms) by a product, the only option left with the regulatory authority is to cancel or revoke the license of the manufacturing company?” the court said in its order.

Calling it an “extreme approach,” the court said, “there seems to be an unfairness and unreasonableness in the executive action. There is also nothing to show that the FDA (state Food and Drug Administration) has adopted such a stringent approach for any other product of the petitioner company or any other company,” it added.

Noting that the government orders cannot sustain, the high court quashed them and permitted the company to manufacture, distribute and sell its baby powder products.

(With inputs from agencies)