The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration on 9 July suspended the licence of Ajanta Caterers, the operator of the Akashvani MLA hostel canteen in Mumbai, citing multiple breaches of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and related regulations. The order, effective 10 July, halts all food-service operations pending laboratory results from 16 samples collected during a four-hour inspection earlier in the day. Regulators moved after video footage showed Shiv Sena legislator Sanjay Gaikwad slapping and punching a canteen employee the previous night while complaining about stale dal. Although no formal complaint was filed, the FDA said the images prompted it to investigate food quality, hygiene, worker medical checks and pest control at the facility. Gaikwad, a two-term MLA from Buldhana, defended his actions, alleging that repeated warnings about unhygienic meals — including incidents of lizards and rats in food — had been ignored.