The Supreme Court on Thursday protected Mahmood Madani – the chief of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust – from any coercive action in connection with a criminal case registered in Uttar Pradesh in 2023 over the ban on the sale of halal-certified products.

Besides Mahmood Madani, the office bearers of the Halal Trust have been protected from any coercive steps by the State police.

Protecting Mahmood Madani, and other office bearers from any coercive action, a bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued notice on the plea by Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s ban on the manufacture, sale, storage and distribution of halal-certified products.

Earlier on January 5, 2024, on a plea by the Halal India Private Limited and other petitioners, the top court had issued notice to the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh governments on a plea challenging the November 18, 2023, notification banning production, storage, distribution and sale of halal-certified meat products Halal-certified products in the State which had ramification across the country.

The Halal India Private Limited and other petitioners had sought the quashing of the November 18, 2023, notification issued by the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration and FIRs registered against them subsequently.

The advocate appearing for the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust today told the bench that despite the organisation having already joined the investigation and duly supplied all documents sought, the State government has summoned the president of the trust and asked him to be present in-person, without specifying what is needed from him.

To this, Justice Gavai said, “Show them that the Supreme Court is seized of the matter.”

“We have pointed it out that the Supreme Court is seized of this matter. They want the president to be present. He is a former Rajya Sabha member… This is completely extra-judicial. Please protect him,” advocate told the bench.

The petitioners challenging the notification have contended that it has been issued without any determination as to how halal certification is adversely affecting public health, which is vague, arbitrary and unreasonable, it added.

One of the petitions has said that the FIR levies serious allegations against the organisation stating that by promoting halal products 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”.

“The notification is manifestly arbitrary as it capriciously excludes only halal certification while other certifications such as Jain, Satvik and even kosher have not been included within the purview of the said notification, indicating that it arbitrarily singles out one certification on the basis of religion which is an impermissible classification,” the petition said.