Panaji, Oct 30 TOI): The high court of Bombay at Goa, on Monday, has directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to file an affidavit on whether the limit of 4 miligram per kilogram of formaldehyde can be taken as ad hoc standard.

The court also asked the state government to carry out random inspections to test the fish in the state.

After hearing the public interest litigations filed in the formalin-in-fish issue, a division bench comprising Justice N M Jamdar and Justice Prithviraj K Chavan said “the Authority will also file an affidavit whether pending fixing of standards by the scientific panel, the limit of 4 mg per kg as per their guidance note can be taken as an ad hoc standard”. The HC gave the authority two weeks to file the affidavit. The court has asked FSSAI to expedite the process of taking up the task to set the standards, as initiated by the letter dated October 12.

The court also directed the state government to carry out inspections everyday at different randomly chosen locations to test the fish being sold. “In the report, the quantity of formalin found should be specified to a figure, as we are informed that the earlier reports have only mentioned the quantity as ‘permissible limit’. The compilation of these reports be made and submitted to the court on the next date of the hearing,” the court ordered.