Diageo Challenges India’s Rum Ban Over Due Process

Diageo has challenged India’s ban on its popular McDowell’s No. 1 Celebration Matured XXX Rum, arguing that the prohibition was imposed without following proper legal procedures. The action comes amid a major crackdown by India’s food safety regulator on alcohol brands over alleged mislabelling and the use of artificial flavours.

Diageo’s India unit, United Spirits, argued in court that the food safety officer who issued the stop-sale order did not have the legal authority to do so and had bypassed the required adjudication process. The company also pointed out that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) began consulting the industry on flavour-labelling rules shortly after the ban, making the continued prohibition premature and commercially damaging.

The Mumbai High Court briefly heard the case on Monday but declined to grant immediate relief and asked the federal government to respond by August 19. The dispute comes as scrutiny of Diageo intensifies, with Indian inspectors separately seizing around 18,000 boxes of its liquor bottles over alleged missing markings related to the use of safe recycled plastic. Diageo has maintained that it complies with Indian laws.

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