Controversial Lawyer Vibhor Anand Approaches SC Seeking Declaration That All Halal Certificates Are Null And Void

A Public Interest Litigation has been filed before the Supreme Court by controversial lawyer Vibhor Anand inter alia to declare all Halal certificates issued by some of the Respondents "right from 1974 as null and void ab initio".

The second prayer in the Petition is to impose a ban on all the products which have been certified by Jamiat Ulama-E-Maharashtra, Halal Certification Services India Pvt. Ltd., Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust or the Halal India Private Limited.

The third prayer seeks a direction to some of the Respondents and "all the other Local and Multinational Companies operating in India to withdraw all Halal Certified Foods and other Consumable products from markets across the country". One of the Respondents in the case is Patanjali Ayurved Limited.

The PIL has been filed through AOR Ravi Kumar Tomar.

The first question framed in the Petition is "Whether Constitution of India is Supreme or Sharia Law would prevail over the Constitution of India?"

The Petitioner says that all non-Muslims must stop purchasing halal certified products. "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" the Petition says.

The Petition says how India can show a way to the world to deal with the issue by boycotting halal products. It says, "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."

The Petitioner has contended that since most businesses only serve Halal meat now to save costs, consumers uncomfortable with Halal meat no longer have a choice. The Petitioner has argued that this is an infringement of the Fundamental Rights under Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Petitioner has contended that the right to life includes the right to food, which is violated by the imposition of Halal meat, while also violating the principles of Secularism by imposing religious beliefs.

The Petitioner poses a question as to whether acceptance of Halal Certification from private organizations render existing Government Certification inadequate, and also whether the practice gives rise to the apprehension that other religious communities will also begin to demand similar certifications.

The Petitioner Vibhor Anand was arrested in the year 2020 for spreading rumours about the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and was released on bail. 

Vibhor Anand is a controversial figure on social media and has in past insinuated that the death of Arun Jaitley is a murder, claimed to have information about an assassination attempt on the then Pakistan PM Imran Khan, claimed to have a list of 16 Indians working for ISI and once threatened to commit suicide in front of Delhi Police headquarters.