The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday, May 14, granted bail to the trustees of some organisations accused of issuing “Halal certificates without the authority of law”.
A single bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia held that “considering the fact that the co-accused have been granted interim protection against arrest against whom similar allegations were leveled, coupled with the fact that the applicants and the trust run by them have undertaken before this Court that they would not be issuing any certificates of the nature issued so far if enlarged on bail till the date a proper authorisation either by the central or by the state government is granted to them by the law, the applicants are enlarged on bail. Accordingly, the bail application is allowed.”
The applicant’s counsel, Adv Vikas Vikram Singh, argued that the applicants were cooperative, had responded to notices under Section 91 of the Cr.P.C., and were subsequently held despite their cooperative demeanor. They additionally highlighted the ongoing challenge to the authority to issue Halal certificates and relevant notifications before the Supreme Court.
On the contrary, the prosecution asserted that the actions of the applicants’ trust encroached upon sovereign functions, potentially destabilising the economy. However, they also considered the absence of criminal antecedents for the applicants.
The court granted bail to the applicants, citing the interim protection granted to co-accused individuals facing similar allegations.
