A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to stop forcing non-Muslims to consume halal products and to authorize any statutory body for the certification of halal products if needed, instead of leaving it to private institution’s discretion.
The PIL has been filed by Advocate Vibhor Anand through Advocate Ravi Kumar Tomar.
The petitioner has filed the petition on behalf of 85% citizens of the country for the enforcement of their fundamental rights provided under Article 14, 21 of the Constitution of India as the same are being infringed and violated.
According to the petition, prior to 1974, there is no record of halal certification for any product in India. It is obvious the choice and understanding of what is halal and what is not was left to individual Muslims. Halal certification was first introduced in 1974 for slaughtered meat. It remained restricted to meat till about 1993.
“The spurt in certifications started with processed food products. Since then, new categories of products have been added regularly. Is it not any wonder that halal certification has now become a multibillion-dollar industry by itself? It is a surprising fact that November 1 is celebrated as World Halal Day. There is a worldwide body called United World Halal Development (UNWHD), which spreads awareness and promotes trade of halal products.”
It is stated in the PIL that it is being witnessed that a growing clamour by Indian Muslims to have every item certified as “halal” i.e., permissible as per Islam. Only because the Muslim minority, which is 15% of the population, wants to consume halal food, it is being forced upon the rest of the 85% people. Now, this halal certification is not restricted to meat, but it has been extended to even food items, cosmetics, medicines, hospitals, housing societies and malls. It includes snacks, sweets, grains, oils, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, nail polish, lipsticks, etc. This demand is not limited to private companies, but has also affected government undertakings such as the Indian Railways.
The petitioner highlighted that in India, halal certification is done by five or six major certification organisations. The most widely sought after have religious backgrounds like the Jamiat-Ulama-E-Maharashtra and Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust. The normal certification procedure as listed on the website of Jamiat-Ulama-E-Maharashtra states that a team of two auditors shall audit the production facility. Based on their report and documents submitted by the company, the technical and Sharia committees will assess and approve the certification. This is as simple and as subjective as it could be. It does not appear to include any scientific or analytical testing of materials or the final product. It is obvious that these organisations play the role of influencers for acceptance of the certified products by Muslims worldwide. The government per se has no role in this process.
“That while we keep going on about the word secular in our Constitution, imposing one religion’s beliefs on everyone can hardly be called secular. Indirectly, with businesses shifting to halal only products to cut their costs, this belief to consume only halal products has been imposed on everyone. The businesses have to be asked by the consumers to make it clear if they use only halal products or not so that as consumers, we can make an informed decision. People who want to consume halal products can continue to do so, but the rest of the people need to know if they are subtly being forced towards it or not,” the PIL said.
The PIL averred that despite having government agencies such as FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India), halal certificate is being imposed upon 100+ crore non-Muslims in the country. Halal certification, which was earlier restricted to meat, has now been extended to vegetarian products too.
Grounds mentioned in the PIL
A. Because the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to food and the respondents are guilty of violating the fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
B. Because imposing one’s religious belief on others is the violation of Secularism which is the Basic Structure of the Constitution of India.
C. Because the acceptance of Halal Certification by private organizations like Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and few others mean that the existing Government Certification like ISI and FSSAI on consumer products are not enough.
D. Because the Halal Certification of products is discriminatory towards other communities and imposes a religious belief on the non-followers too.
E. Because by allowing the demand of one community of Halal certification by the private organizations gives rise the apprehension to come up the other communities’ demand for similar certification on the basis of their religious belief.
F. Because an organization like Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), one of the oldest halal certifying trusts in India, is constantly in the news for their legal support to the accused in terror-related cases. Even in murder cases, like in the case of Kamlesh Tiwari, bomb blasts and terror funding cases, the organization extended legal support to the accused.
G. Because it is a clear case of businesses imposing the will of a group of minority consumers on the majority. The origins of halal certification are linked to Islam, but its exploitation and blind following by businesses are dictated more by profits and ease of doing business. Therefore, it must be delinked from Islamic religion and look at the issue purely from a business perspective.
H. Because Halal certification is done by private organizations. The procedure which is followed, is very simple and it does not include any scientific or analytical testing of material or final product. The government per se has no role in this process.
I. Because the halal certification market is not confined to meat and other food-related products anymore. It has now expanded to include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, health products, toiletries and medical devices. It even includes halal friendly tourism, medical tourism, warehouse certification, restaurant certification and training among others in the ever-expanding list. It is even permeating into services like logistics, media, branding and marketing. An innovative builder in Kochi, India, is even offering halal-certified apartments.
J. Because the cost for halal certification may be insignificant for manufacturers, but it is becoming increasingly remunerative for the agencies. The biggest contributors to this multibillion-dollar certification service are non-Muslim consumers who buy these products despite the certification not adding any value for them. More importantly, there are many question marks on the end use of these funds.
K. Because the need of the hour is not to seek to stop halal certification but to force the manufacturers to correct the situation. All non-Muslims must stop buying halal-certified products. Shops and stores can be directed to clearly segregate between halal- certified and non-certified products on shelves for ease of consumers. If such a movement gathers momentum in India, the manufacturers will be forced to choose from the three available options – address 82% non-Muslim consumers only, address 18% Muslim consumers only or to manufacture two versions to address 100% consumers. The manufacturer will obviously choose the more profitable option. Perhaps India can show a way to the world to deal with this issue.
L. Because most businesses have started serving only halal meat now 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 for 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.
M. Because the Muslim minority, which is 15% of the population, wants to consume ‘Halal’ meat, it is being forced upon the rest 85% of the people. Now, this ‘Halal’ certification is not restricted to meat, but it has been extended to even food items, cosmetics, medicines, hospitals, housing societies and malls. It includes snacks, sweets, grains, oils, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, nail polish, lipsticks, etc.