The Supreme Court canteen on Friday resumed serving meat items after a section of lawyers protested against a private contractor’s decision to serve only vegetarian food during the Hindu festival of Navratri, reported Live Law.
The lawyers wrote to the Supreme Court Bar Association on Thursday cautioning that such a decision could set “a very wrong precedent”.
They argued that the Supreme Court canteen should cater to all dietary preferences and said that not doing so would undermine “our pluralist traditions and would result in lack of respect for each other”.
“Once this is allowed, it will open the floodgates to a lot of other impositions as well,” the letter read.
The letter said that in previous years, lawyers observing Navratri brought their own food from home. The lawyers urged the canteen to reinstate its regular menu.
“At the same time, we will be glad if they can provide the Navratri menu to those observing it,” the letter added.
On Thursday, the canteen did not serve meat items or food containing onion and garlic, which are also avoided by many Hindus during Navratri. The canteen is privately run by a contractor.
A Supreme Court Bar Association official told the Hindustan Times that the contractor had not been officially directed to stop serving meat items. The decision was made independently due to requests from some lawyers, the newspaper reported.
The Supreme Court will close on Saturday for Dussehra and resume hearings on October 14, after Navaratri.