Chandigarh, April 14 -- The district consumer disputes redressal commission-I, Chandigarh, has directed Sagar Ratna Restaurants Pvt Ltd and its franchisee at Elante Mall to pay Rs.50,000 to a customer who found a live lizard in his food, holding them guilty of deficiency in service. The commission awarded Rs.40,000 for mental agony and harassment and Rs.10,000 towards litigation costs, observing that serving unhygienic, sub-standard food reflects negligence and violates a consumer's right to safe food. The complaint was filed by Dr Jagjiwan Kumar Bansal, a retired government doctor, and his wife Sarita Bansal, residents of Sector 15-D, who had visited the food court outlet on June 14, 2022, and ordered channa bhatura and masala dosa for Rs.410. While eating, they discovered a live lizard beneath the bhatura and reported the matter to restaurant staff and police. A daily diary report (DDR) was lodged, and the food sample was sealed for laboratory testing by the UT health department. Though the lab report did not mention the lizard, it declared the channa sub-standard due to the presence of sunset yellow acidic colour, though no report addressed the lizard. Subsequently, the UT health department also filed a complaint before the UT district magistrate under the Food Safety & Standards Act, and issued a challan for unhygienic kitchen conditions and a fresh sample taken on July 14, 2022, was again found sub-standard. The complainant alleged that this amounts to deficiency in service. Sagar Ratna Restaurants Pvt Ltd, New Delhi did not turn up before the commission and the matter proceeded ex-parte. Aakash Restaurants and Foods Pvt Ltd, Food Quest, (Franchisee of Sagar Ratna), in their version, said that the food was served in a satisfactory condition from the counter without any objection at the time of delivery. They claimed that the allegation regarding a live lizard in the plate is baseless and absurd. They alleged that had the lizard been present during cooking at high temperature, it could not have survived, and therefore it may have entered from the common area of the food court, which is not under its control. It is further alleged that any liability, if at all, would lie upon the mall/food court aggregator. They further alleged that there is no laboratory report regarding the alleged lizard, no medical evidence to substantiate the alleged nausea or giddiness, and that the separate proceedings initiated by the UT health department are independent and irrelevant to the present dispute. The UT health department further claimed that penalties of Rs.25,000 and Rs.50,000 have also been imposed upon the franchise owner. The commission observed that the plea of the franchise that the lizard might have entered from the common seating area of the food court is not acceptable as the serving of unhygienic and sub-standard food unfit for consumption and the discovery of a reptile beneath the served item clearly indicates negligence. "The mental shock, trauma, and apprehension suffered by the complainants upon discovering a live reptile in their food cannot be trivialised merely because no lasting physical injury is shown. The right of a consumer to safe and hygienic food is a fundamental facet of consumer jurisprudence, and any breach thereof strikes at the root of public health and consumer confidence," the bench under president Pawanjit Singh and member Suresh Kumar Sardana further observed....