Bombay HC permits Johnson & Johnson to manufacture, sell baby powder

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday 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.

A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and S G Dige permitted the company to manufacture, sell and distribute the 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.

The bench noted that while maintaining standards of quality and safety are of utmost importance for cosmetic products, at the same time it does not seem reasonable to shut down the whole manufacturing process when there is a slight deviation in one of the products.

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