The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on the decision to ban halal certification issued by private accredited bodies like Halal India Pvt Ltd, which has been challenged on the ground that it was targeted against a particular community as no such restriction was imposed on the certification of products as “Satvik”.

A bench of Justices B.R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued formal notices on two separate petitions filed by Halal India Private Limited (HIPL), an accredited body under the Union ministry of commerce, and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra challenging the notification issued by the state government in November last year and the FIR registered against HIPL under various IPC provisions.

Justice Gavai initially asked senior advocate Sidharth Agarwal, appearing for HIPL, why the organisation did not approach Allahabad High Court instead of directly coming to the top court. However, the senior counsel and another senior counsel, Raju Ramachandran appearing for the Jamiat, said the issue had pan-India ramifications, besides inter-state commerce relations. Further, it was contended that similar demands had already been raised in Bihar and Karnataka.

The bench issued a formal notice to the state and the commissioner, Food Safety and Standards, but refused to pass any order on taking coercive action against HIPL pursuant to the FIR registered in the matter. The apex court, however, said the question of granting any interim relief against coercive action would be considered at the next hearing after getting the state’s views.

HIPL submitted it was constrained to move the apex court following the registration of an FIR last year at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow against the company and a notification issued by the commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Administration, government of Uttar Pradesh, banning the production, storage, distribution and sale of halal-certified products.