New Delhi: The Bombay high court on Wednesday, January 11, slammed the Maharashtra government’s decision to revoke the license of Johnson & Johnson company to manufacture, sell and distribute its baby powder products, according to the news agency PTI.Reinstating the license, a division bench of Justice Gautam Patel and Justice S.G. Dige described the government’s decision as “stringent, unreasonable and unfair”.The license was revoked by a Maharashtra government order dated September 15, 2022. In another order passed on September 20, 2022, J&J was asked to immediately stop the manufacturing and sale of the baby powder product.While noting that it was important to adhere to standards of quality and safety, the court said it did not seem reasonable to shut down the entire manufacturing process “due to slight deviation in one of the products”.“The executive cannot use a hammer to kill an ant. Is it always inevitable that when there is a single case of deviation or non-compliance (to prescribed norms) by a product the only option left with the regulatory authority is to cancel or revoke the license of the manufacturing company?” the court said, according to the PTI report.Calling it an “extreme approach”, the court said there was nothing to indicate that the state’s Food and Drug Administration had adopted such a “stringent approach” on any other product or company.Making it clear that the government orders cannot sustain, the court quashed them and issued permission to the company to manufacture, distribute and sell its baby powder products.