NEW DELHI: A legal battle over imposing a ban on manufacture, sale and distribution of food products with halal certification has intensified with the Centre on Monday telling the court that few lakhs of crores of rupees were being collected by giving certification for various products including cement, iron bars, bottles and this pushed prices of products higher.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta told a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih that he was shocked to know that ‘Halal’ certification is not confined to food items but it was done for all sorts of products. “So far as Halal meat etc. is concerned, nobody can have any objection. But your Lordships would be shocked, as I was shocked yesterday, even cement used is to be halal-certified! Sariyas (iron bars) used have to be halal-certified…Water bottles which we get are required to be halal-certified…Few lakhs of crores are collected through certification,” the SG said.
His plea was opposed by senior advocate M R Shamshad, appearing for various petitioners including Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Halal Trust, and told the bench that concept of Halal has been well explained in central govt policy and it is a matter of lifestyle. He said that everything is voluntary and no one is forced to have Halal-certified products.
Food Security and Drug Administration of UP govt had in Nov 2023 banned the “manufacture, sale, storage and distribution of halal-certified products with immediate effect”. “In compliance with Section 30(2)(d) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, in exercise of the authority vested in Section 30(2)(a) of the said Act, in view of public health, food with Halal certification is being banned within the limits of Uttar Pradesh,” the notification said.
The solicitor general submitted that the issue has to be adjudicated by the apex court while highlighting that price of product increases due to halal certification and it affected consumers. The court was hearing a plea challenging UP government notification.
UP govt in its affidavit said the ‘halal’ certification of food products acts as a parallel system that creates confusion regarding the quality and is completely against the basic intention of the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The court posted the hearing to March 25.
