New Delhi: A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking directions to impose a ban on Halal certified products across India and to withdraw Halal Certified products from markets.
The plea was moved by lawyer Vibhor Anand through advocate Ravi Kumar Tomar.
In the plea, the petitioner has urged the top court to issue directions to impose a ban on all the products which have been certified Halal by concerned authorities including Halal Certification Services India Private Limited and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust.
According to the petition, Halal Certification was firstly introduced in the year 1974 for slaughtered meat and before 1974, there was nothing like Halal Certification.
He also said that since the year 1974 to 1993, the Halal Certification was only restricted to meat products, but later on, it covered numerous products.
The petitioner has sought to issue directions to the respondent Centre to declare all the certificates given to Halal products issued by the concerned authorities right from 1974 as null and void.
The petitioner has also sought to direct the local and multinational companies operating in India to withdraw all Halal Certified Foods and other Consumable products from markets across the country.
"...petition is being filed by the petitioner on behalf of 85 per cent citizens of the country for the enforcement of their Fundamental Rights provided under Article 14, 21 of the Constitution of India as the same is being infringed and violated. It is being seen that for the sake of 15 per cent of the population, the rest 85 per cent of people are being forced to consume the halal products against their will," the petitioner submitted.
The petitioner also submitted that imposing one's religious belief on others is a violation of secularism which is the basic structure of the Constitution of India.