According to the ruling, the halal certification of food goods is a parallel system that raises questions about the food items’ quality and is not permissible under Section 89 of the relevant Act.
Lucknow: Today, the Uttar Pradesh government outlawed goods with the halal label. The state administration said that it is now illegal to produce, store, distribute, or sell food goods that have Halal certification. However, the limitations will not apply to goods made for export.
“Strict legal measures will be implemented against any individual or firm engaged in the production, storage, distribution, buying, and selling of Halal-certified medicines, medical devices, and cosmetics within Uttar Pradesh,” a government decree said.
According to the ruling, halal certification of food products is an unworkable parallel system that raises questions about the quality of food goods and violates Section 89 of the Food Law and the Food Safety and Standards Act. “The right to decide the quality of food items lies only with the authorities and institutions given in Section 29 of the said Act, who check the relevant standards as per the provisions of the Act” , it stated.
It said that in cases where “no provisions for marking Halal certification on labels in the government rules related to drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics” exist, some medications, medical equipment, and cosmetic products are known to have the Halal certificate displayed on their packaging or labeling. Moreover, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and its associated regulations make no reference to Halal certification.
The action was taken in response to a police complaint made against a business and several other organizations for allegedly “exploiting people’s religious sentiments” by offering “forged” halal certifications in an effort to increase sales.
According to a statement from the UP government, businesses including Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust in Delhi, the Halal Council of India in Mumbai, Halal India Private Limited in Chennai, and Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra are among those against whom a case has been filed for allegedly taking advantage of religious sentiments to increase sales by offering halal certificates to clients who practice a particular religion.
The UP government said that the complainant expressed worries about a widespread conspiracy, including efforts to supposedly reduce the sale of goods from businesses that do not have a halal certificate.
According to the statement, these businesses allegedly gave false halal certifications to other businesses in order to profit from them, inciting social unrest and betraying public confidence.
Declaring the accusations “baseless,” Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust stated in a statement that it would take “necessary legal measures to counter such misinformation.”
The food commissioner’s office said that some food items, including dairy products, sugar-filled bread goods, peppermint oil, salty ready-to-eat savouries, and edible oils, among others, have halal certification listed on their labels.
The certification of halal food ensures that the food is pure and produced in compliance with Islamic law. A product cannot be certified halal if it includes animals or animal byproducts that are illegal in the country.
In particular, halal meals are those that are prepared, created, manufactured, processed, and kept in storage using machinery, equipment, and/or utensils that have been thoroughly cleansed in accordance with Islamic law and are devoid of any ingredients that are forbidden to Muslims.
