The Supreme Court on Friday told the central government to consider making adulteration of milk punishable with life imprisonment. It alluded to the amendments made by Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha to the Indian Penal Code, by which those indulging in adulterating food products will face harsher punishments, IANS reported.

The bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and justices R Banumathi and Uday Umesh Lalit said "stringent measures" were needed to tackle this issue as the consumption of contaminated milk and milk products posed a grave threat to infants and children in India and is "hazardous to human health". The bench said in its verdict, "It is also desirable that the Union of India revisits the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to revise the punishment for adulteration, making it more deterrent in cases where the adulterant can have an adverse impact on health."

The top court was hearing a petition filed by Uttarakhand-based Swami Achyutanand Tirth, who had raised concerns over the rising sale of adulterated and synthetic milk in various pockets of the country. While giving its direction, the court referred to a survey conducted by the Foods Safety and Standards Authority of India, which found that 68.4% of milk sold in India was adulterated.