Yogi govt bans sale of halal certified products in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday banned sale of "halal certified" products in the state even as the state police registered cases against several organisations for allegedly issuing forged 'halal' certification for edible and cosmetic products for financial gains thereby exploiting religious sentiments of a particular community.

According to sources here, the ban would apply on manufacturing, storage, distribution and sale of 'halal certified' products, including medicines. Exemption has been given to the items meant for export.

A directive in this regard was issued by the state government here on Saturday evening.

The decision came within hours after the state police registered an FIR on a complaint alleging issuance of "halal certification" for several products by some organisations.

Sources said that the organisations which have been booked were based in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. The FIR registered under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 153 A (promoting enmity among different groups), 384 (extortion), 471 (use of forged documents) and others of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The FIR said that some organisations had been issuing 'halal' certificates to several products using forged documents for the purpose of making financial gains by exploiting the religious feelings of a particular community. "These organisations have no authority to issue such certificates", it added.

It also said that such acts could foment communal disharmony and were akin to religious exploitation.

The FIR said that there could be a conspiracy behind issuance of 'halal' certificates and that there was also an attempt to decrease the sale of the products of the companies which had not obtained the 'halal' certificates from these organisations.

"The items for which halal certificates are being issued also included oils, toothpaste and soaps whereas these items do not require such certification," it added.

Halal certification is a kind of attestation that a product has been manufactured in accordance with the beliefs of Islam and that it did not have any forbidden components and is religiously pure.