The court was hearing petitions challenging the ban imposed by the state of Uttar Pradesh on halal-certified products within the state. “So far as Halal meat etc. is concerned, nobody can have any objection… even cement used is to be halal-certified. Sariyas (iron bars) used have to be halal-certified. Water bottles are required to be halal-certified. Even atta (wheat flour) and besan (chickpea flour) have to be halal-certified. How can besan halal or non-halal?” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta added that the agencies imposing halal certification labels were earning crores by requiring even products other than meat to have halal certificates.
The state further informed the bench of Justices B R Gavai and A G Masih that halal certification on meat was not objectionable but other products like cement, water bottles, etc needed no certification. Meanwhile, Senior Advocate M R Shamshad representing the petitioner stated that halal is not restricted only to non-vegetarian food and that it is elaborately mentioned in the Centre’s policy.
Mehta further stated that the halal certification on several products was driving prices and those who do not subscribe to the halal certification were being forced to pay higher prices unnecessarily.
He also pointed out religious beliefs and understanding in the case of meat saying that while Islam says meat should be halal, other religions believe that it should be jhatka. “Another concern. Suppose I am Sikh and for me, halal meat is prohibited. Halal would mean that the animal would die slowly. Other religion says that you should not. Then he will have to consume halal because it has to be halal certified. There are several issues, my lord,” Mehta added.
Responding to this, Shamshad stated that nobody was forcing the customers to buy halal-certified products and that it was not mandatory. “All are voluntary. Nobody is forcing,” he said. Following this, Mehta said that several FIRs were registered against Halal India Pvt Limited and Jamiat Ulama for violating the law and the notification issued by the government from time to time.
UP banned ‘Halal certified’ food items, said it violated Food Safety and Standards Act
In November 2023, the Food Safety and Drug Administration issued a notification to put an immediate ban on the production, storage, distribution, and sale of ‘Halal certified’ food items citing public health. The “Halal-certified items” banned include edible items, medicines, and cosmetic items.
Uttar Pradesh | Food Commissioner's Office issues order, "In the interest of public health, production, storing, distribution and sale of halal certified edible items banned in Uttar Pradesh with immediate effect." pic.twitter.com/G9GXLPj83n
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 18, 2023
The UP govt said that the Halal certification is a parallel system as the country has the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to determine the quality of foods and that it violates the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, under which FSSAI was formed.
The notification said that Halal certification is being mentioned on the labels of certain food products like dairy products, sugar, bakery products, peppermint oil, salty ready-to-eat savories, edible oils, etc. It said that the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 was promulgated in 2006 by repealing 8 old laws, and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the apex body for food items, was formed under it to implement the provisions of the act.
FIR filed against companies selling Halal goods
Following this, the Uttar Pradesh police registered FIRs against several companies selling ‘Halal-certified’ products using forged documents. The companies booked were identified as Halala India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulema Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, and Jamiat Ulema in Mumbai. These companies were selling products such as bathing soaps, spices, snacks, dairy, and garments with fake Halal certifications. Lucknow Police booked the accused under sections 120b/153a/298, 384, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 505 of IPC.
The term Halal is used for products, services, or systems that are considered lawful (Tayeib) or permissible under the Islamic Shariah law that do not consist of or contain any part that is considered unlawful (haram) according to Islamic law, and/or the actions permitted by Shariah law without punishment imposed on the doer.
Halal Trusts denied bringing communal differences among the consumers
Notably, the two pleas were filed by Halal India Private Limited and Jamiat Ulam e-Hind Halal Trust Maharashtra against the state seeking quashing of notification wherein the manufacture, sale, storage, and distribution of halal-certified products were banned in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Supreme Court in January 2024 then granted protection from any coercive action against Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Halal Trust chief Mahmood Madani and other office-bearers. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta ordered no coercive action by Uttar Pradesh police against Madani and others.
The counsel appearing for Jamiat argued that despite the organization having already joined the investigation and duly supplied all documents sought, the State government summoned the president of the trust and asked him to be present in person, without specifying what is needed from him. Petitioners said they have been implicated despite the fact that they have no role whatsoever to play in connection with the issuance of halal certification.
One of the petitions stated that FIR levies serious allegations against the organization for promoting halal products by which the companies are trying to bring communal differences among the consumers.
The petition stated that notification is ‘arbitrary and based on unreasonable classification,’ and that manufacture, sale, storage, and distribution of halal-certified products were banned with immediate effect in Uttar Pradesh from the view of ‘public health’.
It is crucial to note that the issue of halal meat and its religious concern raised by the SG in the Supreme Court is real. He, while representing the state in the Supreme Court said that while Islam says meat should be halal, other religions believe that it should be jhatka
‘Halal economy’ needs to be resisted
As reported earlier, most businesses have today started serving only halal meat to save the cost of maintaining 2 supply chains, for halal and non-halal meat. People who may not be comfortable with halal meat, or people with religions where only jhatka meat is allowed, no longer have any choice in the matter. If they are ordering meat at a restaurant, they get halal only by default.
Further, for a meat product to be halal, the animal must be slaughtered only by a Muslim. In order to achieve economies of scale, the meat industry ends up operating large-scale abattoirs to produce all their meat. They end up using only Muslims at these abattoirs. In such a scenario, many Hindu communities, especially some Dalits, who were traditionally butchers, miss out on employment opportunities in the sector.
The halal economy is not just restricted to meat products now. Pharmaceutical products, personal care products, cosmetics, and even flour, all come with halal certification now. With its ever-growing scope, it is creating the grounds for restricting the job prospects in these sectors to people from only one religion. Further, this parallel system of certification runs without any checks and balances from the government.
When the government has all the existing government-specified norms, quality parameters, and regulatory requirements that companies have to meet to get their products certified fit to be marketed, there is hardly any need for such a parallel system of certification. This system also poses a systematic threat to several private companies that do not produce halal-certified products. This eventually allows the agencies producing halal-certified products to sell goods at higher prices, making their way to creating an alleged monopoly in the market.