NEW DELHI, Nov 18: A move that can create fresh controversy, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday banned products with halal tag. “In the interest of public health, production, storing, distribution and sale of halal certified edible items banned in Uttar Pradesh with immediate effect,” the food commissioner’s office said in an order on Saturday.
Halal certification of food products is a parallel system which creates confusion regarding the quality of food items and was not tenable under Section 89 of the said Act, the order said.
The move comes hours after a police case was filed against a company and a few other organisations for allegedly “exploiting people’s religious sentiments” to boost sales by providing “forged” halal certificates.
The case has been registered against entities such as the Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra and others for allegedly exploiting religious sentiments to boost sales by providing halal certificates to customers of a specific religion, the UP government said in a statement.
The statement said that these companies allegedly issued forged halal certificates to various companies for financial gains, fostering not only social animosity but also violating public trust.
(Manas Dasgupta)