JOIN US'How can you decide what I eat outside': Gujarat HC to civic body on non-veg stalls row
Civil rights activists on Friday lauded the Gujarat High Court for pulling up the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation over its recent drive against stalls selling non-vegetarian food, while a civic body functionary ruled out discrimination in the removal of the food carts.
The court on Thursday questioned how people could be stopped from "eating what they want" outside their house and slammed the civic body for its drive against handcarts selling non-vegetarian food items on the streets.
Civil rights activist and lawyer K R Koshti welcomed the court's observation saying no one has the right to infringe upon the fundamental right to personal liberty.
"Even the Gujarat government had earlier clarified that people are free to eat whatever they want. Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees people's fundamental right to personal liberty, such as what to eat and what to wear. No government has the right to infringe upon people's rights," Koshti said.
While asking the APP to call the commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation before the court, justice Vaishnav posted the case for further hearing in the second half of the day, also directing the corporation's standing counsel Satyam Chhaya for appearance.
Mujahid Nafees, the convener of the Minority Coordination Committee, said the drive of removing handcarts selling only non-veg food items was another tactic by the BJP-led government to divide the society based on the food they eat.
“I am glad that the court made some scathing remarks on it. Eventually, the AMC had to announce that there was no discrimination," he added. Devang Dani, chairman of AMC's a town planning and estate committee, last month said carts selling non-veg and egg dishes along the major roads and in a 100-metre radius from schools, colleges, gardens and religious places will be removed. However, after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel intervened, Dani clarified that veg food vendors will also face action.
"That was an anti-encroachment drive only. There is no question of discrimination. We have removed carts irrespective of the food they were selling,” Dani said on Friday. He said the anti-encroachment drive was stopped after a couple of days and the municipal body is at present not carrying out any such drive against street food carts.
The court made the remarks while disposing of a petition filed by nearly 20 street vendors claiming the AMC's recent anti-encroachment drive was targeted at handcarts selling non-vegetarian food items, an allegation denied by the civic body.
At one point, Justice Biren Vaishnav, who was hearing the petition, got agitated and asked the AMC "What is your problem? How can you decide what I should eat outside my house? How can you stop people from eating what they want? Suddenly because someone in power thinks that this is what they want to do?"
Street vendors from Ahmedabad, whose handcarts were seized by the BJP-ruled civic body, alleged the drive against vendors selling egg and non-veg food items was launched in the city after an elected representative in Rajkot city gave a negative opinion about such food being sold on roads.
Advocate Ronith Joy, appearing for petitioners, termed the move as an act of "bigotry" and claimed the civic body has removed the handcarts selling non-veg food on the ground they are not maintaining hygiene. Non-veg vendors were singled out for eviction on the ground that the food they were serving is not vegetarian food, he added.
Justice Vaishnav said, "Will the Municipal Commissioner decide what I will eat? Tomorrow they will tell me not to drink sugarcane juice because it will cause diabetes. Or tell me that coffee is bad for health." Civic bodies of Rajkot, Vadodara and Ahmedabad had earlier announced to remove non-veg food carts from city roads.
However, after the chief minister overruled such a move by local civic bodies, saying the state government has no problem with what people want to eat, the drive against non-veg food carts was converted into an "anti-encroachment" campaign.
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