Gujarat HC Raps Ahmedabad Municipal Corp Over Non-Veg Street Food Crackdown

Gujarat HC questions crackdown on non-veg street food: The High Court of Gujarat had to intervene and say that the one in power cannot dictate what food can be consumed and what cannot be. This intervention was made today while the judge heard the plea of street vendors who have been prohibited to sell non-vegetarian food on the streets of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

The Court also questioned the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on how can people be prevented from eating the food of their liking. Justice Biren Vaishnav said, "You don't like non-veg food, it is your lookout. How can you decide what people should eat outside? How can you stop people from eating what they want?"

He further asked "Suddenly because someone in power thinks that this is what they want to do? Tomorrow you will decide what I should eat outside my house? Tomorrow they will tell me that I should not consume sugarcane juice because it might cause diabetes or that coffee is bad for my health."

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The judge was responding to a plea filed by 20 street vendors on the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

The petitioners are street vendors whose livelihood depend on running stalls or carts. Not all the petitioners are non-vegetarian food sellers, some are also fruit sellers. They have jointly submitted a plea against "the deplorable, illegal and unjust action" of the AMC, who allegedly seized the raw materials used by the sellers to cook food for consumption "without due process".

In a country, where 70 percent of women and 78 percent of men consume meat, why is meat still deemed as impure or a food that is looked down upon? This data is from the National Family Health Survey 4 data says that the states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Jharkhand have a majority of population that eats meat.

However, the question here is not about numbers, majority or minority, it is about free will and choice. If a person is eating meat or eggs out of choice, then what right does anyone have to police their eating habits? Why must a shopkeeper facing policing or brutality, if what they serve doesn't fit into a political party's agenda?

Using force to shape a community's eating habits, by instilling fear in them, is also a violation of their consent, because they are being forced to not eat something, against free will. Such an approach doesn't suit a democracy and needs to be discouraged.

Views expressed are the author's own.