SRINAGAR: As many as 2,733 food-safety cases remain pending across Jammu and Kashmir, despite 1,211 cases being filed during 2025-26 for violations involving unsafe, substandard and adulterated food, data presented in the Legislative Assembly shows.
The Health and Medical Education Department said 1,721 cases were decided during the year, including matters carried forward from previous financial years, while penalties totalling Rs 1.70 crore were imposed.
The figures were provided in response to a question by Patten MLA Javid Riyaz. The department said enforcement action was taken under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the rules and regulations framed under it.
Of the 1,211 cases registered across the Union Territory, 485 were filed in Kashmir division. The division recorded 1,188 decided cases, including those carried forward from earlier years, with fines of Rs 1.24 crore imposed. However, 1,021 cases remained pending in Kashmir.
The wider enforcement data shows that authorities conducted 21,120 inspections across J&K during 2025-26. They collected 7,001 enforcement samples and 3,443 surveillance samples, of which 690 were found to be non-conforming.
The department separately reported 154 cases involving meat and meat products in Kashmir division during the same period. Of these, 120 were decided and 34 remained pending, while fines amounting to Rs 30.12 lakh were imposed.
A separate district-wise statement cited by the department records 9,345 inspections, 4,994 enforcement samples and 2,415 surveillance samples during the period covered. It lists 359 samples as non-conforming, with 309 cases filed and 475 cases decided. Fines totalling Rs 63.24 lakh were imposed, while the statement showed 2,569 cases pending.
The enforcement exercise also involved seizures, improvement notices and the lifting of samples, besides prosecution and penalties. The district-wise records include action relating to suspected rotten meat and details of seizures and fines imposed in individual cases.
The department’s figures therefore show a substantial volume of enforcement activity alongside a sizeable pending caseload, with the overall J&K tally standing at 2,733 pending cases at the end of the period cited.
