SG Tushar Mehta questions need for halal-certification of non-meat products in Supreme Court

New Delhi: Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta on Monday raised in the Supreme Court the issue of halal certification of non-meat products such as iron bars and cement, asking why should non-believers be made to pay higher cost for halal-certified products.

The law officer made the submissions before the apex court which was hearing the pleas challenging a notification prohibiting the manufacturing, storage, sale and distribution of food products with halal certification within UP, except for items produced for export.

"So far as halal meat is concerned, nobody can have any objection. But your lordships would be shocked, as I was shocked, that even cement and iron bars used are to be halal certified," Mehta submitted before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih.

He said the halal-certifying agencies were charging and the total amount collected in the process might be a few lakh crore.

"Even 'atta' (wheat flour) and 'besan' (gram flour) has to be halal-certified. How can 'besan' be halal or non-halal?" asked Mehta.

The counsel appearing for the petitioners said the Centre's policy says it was a matter of lifestyle.

"All this is voluntary. Nobody is forcing anyone," the petitioners counsel said.

The top law officer referred to non-believers, who did not consume halal-certified products, and asked why they should be made to pay a higher price only because some people wanted halal-certified products.

The petitioners' counsel said it was a matter of choice.

The bench was informed that the Centre had filed an affidavit in the matter.

The top court granted four weeks to the petitioners to file a rejoinder and said the matter would be heard in the week commencing March 24.

The November 18, 2023 notification was issued by the office of the commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Administration, Uttar Pradesh, under the provision of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

In its counter affidavit filed in the top court, the Centre said the grievance of the petitioner related to the November 18, 2023 notification issued by the Food Safety and Drug Administration of Uttar Pradesh, which fell entirely under the jurisdiction and authority of the state.

It said the Centre's Ministry of Commerce and Industry had no role or authority over such state-level regulations or notifications and an FIR was registered against one of the petitioners at Lucknow in a case related to Halal certification.

The affidavit said the ministry was primarily concerned with the promotion and regulation of international and domestic trade, industrial growth, and export promotion in India.

It said the ministry had no direct or indirect role in the enforcement, regulation or administration of laws relating to food safety, drug administration or any other matter raised in the petition.

"With an objective to streamline the halal certification process of meat and meat products as halal from India, Department of Commerce and APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) which is a regulatory body for export of meat, agricultural and processed food products requested QCI to develop a national scheme for certification of halal products," it said.

The affidavit said the Quality Council of India (QCI) developed the scheme titled "India Conformity assessment Scheme (i-CAS)-Halal" in accordance with international standards.

The apex court had in 2024 sought responses from the UP government and others on separate pleas challenging the notification prohibiting the manufacturing, storage, sale and distribution of food products with halal certification within Uttar Pradesh, except for items produced for export.

The petitioners counsel had said an FIR was lodged in UP against one of the petitioners and other entities alleging they were issuing forged halal certificates for financial gains.

Several petitions, including those by Halal India Private Limited and others and "Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust", were filed in the apex court.

In January last year, the top court, while hearing a plea by Jamiat Trust, directed no coercive steps would be taken against the trust and its office bearers in connection with the FIR lodged in Lucknow over Halal certification.