‘Halal certification is consumer right, not just for exports’: Trust tells Supreme Court in UP ban fight

During the last hearing on January 20, 2025, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the court, “So far as Halal meat etc is concerned, nobody can have any objection. But your Lordships would be shocked, as I was shocked yesterday, even cement used is to be halal-certified. Sariyas (iron bars) have to be halal-certified… Water bottles which we get are required to be halal-certified…” “Even atta (wheat flour), besan (chickpea flour) have to be halal-certified… How can besan be halal or non-halal?” the senior law officer said, adding that halal certification agencies have made “few lakh crores” through such certification.

Mehta also submitted that halal certification is driving up prices and said the court may have to consider the question why those who do not subscribe to halal should be forced to consume the higher-priced items only because some want it.

Referring to this, the Trust in its affidavit dated February 22, 2025, said that the SG’s submissions were “widely reported… to malign and target the petitioners to allege that the process of halal certification is being misused. Many media organisations set up debates on this issue to vilify and denigrate the entire process. The… submissions became fodder for creating a narrative against the very concept of halal and its certification process.”

Terming the submissions “completely incorrect, vexatious and scandalous”, the Trust contended that they “are without any basis, inconsistent with the record and the pleadings sworn on oath by public officials” submitted before the court.

It urged the court to direct the Central government for disclosure of the fact as to “which officer instructed the SG to make such statement before the court as these statements have caused serious prejudice to the concept of halal, which is considered to be one of the basic requirements of behavior and lifestyle of a very large community of our country”.

The Trust said “it is a serious issue of religious belief and practice of a large section (of) Indian citizenry and the same is protected under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India”. “The state, whether it is Central government or State government, cannot take away this liberty of an individual as to what material somebody is eating…,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit said the “respondents, including the Central government, has sought to selectively target only the halal certifications” while “certifications like kosher are still prevalent and are being sold in different parts of the country, including in UP, even on products like apple cider (vinegar) etc”.

The affidavit said halal certification is also related to international trade and commerce. “A large number of manufacturing companies need this certification to be able to export their goods as per the requirements of the importing countries.”

The Trust said “halal certification, mostly, if not all, is consumer driven”. “It is a business decision of manufacturing companies to opt for such certifications because the consumers… want such certifications. Those products could be like besan, atta etc where, considering the market forces, the manufacturing companies… require such certifications, and accordingly, the agencies, at their request, issue such certificates. The petitioner neither suggests or compels any manufacturing companies… to have halal certifications”.

The Trust said it “has not issued any halal certification to iron bars or cement”, but added that “there are few, predominantly, steel and cement manufacturing companies, which produce certain materials to be used in preserving edible materials like tin plates/food cans (for packaging food products), and are interested in doing their export for their material benefit… The importing establishments from outside India place conditions on exporting companies that the said materials… be halal-certified… At the request of exporting companies… the petitioners would check the manufacturing process and components used in manufacturing.”