On Monday, during the hearing of the pleas challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s ban on halal-certified products, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, told the Supreme Court that he was “shocked” to see products other than meat-certified as halal, asserting that the products meet the requirements of Islamic law.
On 5 January, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and sought a response from it on writ petitions filed by the Halal India Pvt Limited and Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, challenging the Constitutional validity of the notification issued by the Food Safety and Drug Administration, UP, “prohibiting the manufacturing, storage, sale, and distribution of food products with halal certification within the state.”
In response, the solicitor general Tushar Mehta said, “So far as Halal meat is concerned, nobody can have any objection… even cement used is to be halal-certified. Sariyas (iron bars) used to be halal-certified. Water bottles are required to be halal-certified.”
“Even atta (wheat flour), besan (chickpea flour) has to be halal-certified…how can besan be halal or non-halal? The agencies have made a “few lakh crores” with such certification”, he added.
Mehta also noted that halal-certified products are costlier and the Court may have to consider the issue of people all across the country having to buy costlier halal-certified products just because a few demand them.
Senior Advocate M R Shamshad appearing for the petitioner emphasised that halal is defined elaborately in the Union government’s policy is not only about non-vegetarian food.
The circular issued by UP Food, Safety, and Drug Administration Commissioner Anita Singh on November 18, 2023, arbitrarily banned “the manufacturing, storage, sale, and distribution of food products with Halal certification within the State of Uttar Pradesh, except for items produced for export.”
