Patna High Court Raises Concern Over Alleged Recovery of ‘Small Snakes’ From Mid-Day Meal Plates in Bihar

PTI, May 21, 2026, Patna : The Patna High Court has raised serious concerns over the alleged recovery of “small snakes” from food plates in one of the two government schools in Bihar’s Saharsa district, where a total of 189 children fell ill after consuming mid-day meals earlier this month.

Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a Division Bench comprising Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Mohit Kumar Shah also questioned alleged discrepancies in the collection and testing of food samples connected to the case.

The children reportedly fell ill on May 7 after consuming food served under the PM POSHAN scheme at schools in Baluaha and Chandrayan villages in Saharsa district.

In an order dated May 19, the Bench referred to a forensic inspection report mentioning the recovery of “small snakes” from food plates at a government middle school in Baluaha village.

The court directed the Saharsa Superintendent of Police, the Food Safety Officer, and PM POSHAN officials to file affidavits explaining the process of seizure, sampling, and laboratory examination of the food items.

The Bench expressed concern over a separate sampling exercise allegedly conducted by the Food Safety Officer, who claimed to have independently collected samples of ‘dal’ and ‘khichdi’ and sent them to a laboratory at Agamkuan through courier service.

The court also noted discrepancies between the officer’s statement and the laboratory report, which reportedly described the samples as “pulses” and “vegetables”.

The High Court questioned the delay in sending samples to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhagalpur and directed the Saharsa SP to personally supervise the investigation and head the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted in the matter.

The Bench further asked the PM POSHAN Directorate to examine whether the NGO supplying meals to 144 schools should be permitted to continue its operations while the investigation remains underway.

The NGO, Bharat Ratna Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Dalit Udhthan Avam Shiksha Samiti, has also been added as a respondent in the case.

The matter is scheduled to be heard next on June 2.