New Delhi: Batting for hygiene at eateries, Supreme Court judge SVN Bhatti said on Monday, July 22, he used to frequent a vegetarian restaurant run by a Muslim while posted in Kerala as it maintained international standards of hygiene.
Justice Bhatti shared his experience when he was with Justice Hrishikesh Roy on a bench hearing pleas against directives issued by BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The top court stayed the directives asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of their owners and staff but said they may be required to display information about the kind of food they are serving, like whether they are vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
“I have my experience and knowledge from when I was in Kerala. I may not state this openly, as I am a sitting judge of this court. Without disclosing the name of the city, there is a vegetarian hotel run by a Hindu. There is another vegetarian hotel run by a Muslim.
“As a judge of that state, I was going to the hotel run by a Muslim for vegetarian food. When it comes to food standards and safety, he was displaying everything. He had returned from Dubai. He was maintaining international standards with regard to safety, cleanliness, and hygiene. So it was my choice to go to that hotel,” Justice Bhatti said.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, said, “You chose by menu card and not name.”
Singhvi said that, as a consequence of the directives, the services of some employees of the eateries have been terminated.
He asserted that the directives lack any constitutional or legal backing and infringe upon the secular character of the country.
The top court said the directions and their enforcement will have implications for multiple states in the country where the Kanwar Yatra takes place.
The bench issued notice to the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, where the Ujjain municipal body has issued a similar directive, on a host of petitions against the orders.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas, including those by Moitra, academician Apoorvanand Jha, columnist Aakar Patel, and the NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights, challenging the directives.
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