Problem 2

Raman, a student at a law university, purchased a carton of Instant Maggie

Noodles manufactured and marketed by Bestle all over India from an online
distributor M/s., Ashok Kiranawala and Co. who is a retailer of groceries and food
articles and ensures home delivery of the same under the tradename
ashokkiranawala.com. He purchased it on 13 July, 2015 and the food item was
delivered to Raman on the 21 July, 2015. On the carton itself the date of
packaging of that entire lot of packets was mentioned as 10 May, 2015 and the
best before clause read that it was best before 4 months from the date of
manufacture. Raman was told about this website by one of his friends, who, as
advised, had downloaded the app on his phone for free to make transactions all
the more easy.
One of the terms expressed in the Terms and Condition clauses of
ashokkiranawala.com was that as far as the perishable food items are
concerned, they cannot be held liable under any circumstances and that the
liability shall befall on the manufacturer alone and no one else. There is however,
a general trade practice that the manufacturers do inform and update the
retailers and wholesellers about the specific Quality Control/Quality Assurance
of their products when the same is delivered to them for being sold to the
prospective consumers. The retailers also on the other hand are under an
obligation to be well aware of the product contents and its purity and whether or
not the same is in a consumable state, and accordingly inform the consumers or
refrain from selling such products which dont conform to safety standards.
Since Raman was very lazy to go to the college mess for his food, he generally
used to cook Maggie noodles in his hostel room itself and whenever he used to
feel hungry, he would cook Maggie and sometimes used to just eat raw Maggie
after mixing all the spices that were provided in the packet, without even cooking
the same. After a month, there developed a severe pain in Ramans stomach and
after diagnosis it was found that there had developed a malignant tumor in his
kidney due to excessive consumption of unhealthy food items. Ramans father
filed a suit against both Bestles and M/s Ashok Kiranawala and Co., for defective
goods and deficiency in services under the COPRA, 1986.
Meanwhile, there was a proceeding instituted by the Food Authority of India,
under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, both against
the Bestle and M/s Ashok Kiranawala and Co., for misbranding and mislabelling
and negligence for not properly specifying the ingredients and contents of the
said food item and thereby deceiving the consumers. To this Bestle responded
that their food items have been properly checked before their distribution in the
market and that they have been given a green signal by the Food Authority of
India since the year 2000 and hence such a step against them is arbitrary and
not proper in law. On the other hand, M/s Ashok Kiranawala contended that there
cannot be any liability on his part as he is merely a retailer and the fact that in
the case of consumer online transactions with his company such liability has

been expressly excluded under the policy terms set for consumers who deal with
them.
As against the District Consumer Forums decision in favour of the plaintiffs,
Bestle and M/s Ashok Kiranawala have jointly filed an appeal before the State
Consumer Forum, at Delhi and have also challenged the action of Food Authority
of India against them and challenged the jurisdiction of the Magistrate in the said
matter.

Issues:
1. Whether or not M/s., Ashok Kiranawala and Co. and Bestle may be held
liable for negligence and for defective goods and deficiency in services
under the COPRA, 1986?
2. Whether or not both M/s., Ashok Kiranawala and Co. and Bestle owe a joint
and several liability under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act,
2006?
3. Whether or not the suit is maintainable before the State Consumer Forum?