NEW DELHI: Justice S VN Bhatti, a Supreme Court judge on Monday while hearing a court batting for ‘hygiene at eateries‘ talked about his personal experience of regularly visiting a vegetarian restaurant owned by a Muslim in Kerala as it maintained international standards.
The remarks were made when Justice Bhatti and Justice Hrishikesh Roy, were on a bench that stayed the directives issued by BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of their owners and employees.
However, the bench said that these eateries might be required to provide information about the type of food they serve, whether it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
“I have my experience and knowledge when I was in Kerala. I may not state 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.” Justice Bhatti said.
“As a judge of that state, I was going to the hotel run by a Muslim for vegetarian food. When it comes to food standard 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,” he added.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, said in court, “You chose by menu card and not name.”
The top court has issued notices to the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, as well as the Ujjain municipal body, which has issued a similar order. The notices were issued in response to a series of petitions challenging the directives.
The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions including those by Moitra, academician Apoorvanand Jha and columnist Aakar Patel, and NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights challenging the directives.
The remarks were made when Justice Bhatti and Justice Hrishikesh Roy, were on a bench that stayed the directives issued by BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of their owners and employees.
However, the bench said that these eateries might be required to provide information about the type of food they serve, whether it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
“I have my experience and knowledge when I was in Kerala. I may not state 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.” Justice Bhatti said.
“As a judge of that state, I was going to the hotel run by a Muslim for vegetarian food. When it comes to food standard 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,” he added.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, said in court, “You chose by menu card and not name.”
The top court has issued notices to the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, as well as the Ujjain municipal body, which has issued a similar order. The notices were issued in response to a series of petitions challenging the directives.
The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions including those by Moitra, academician Apoorvanand Jha and columnist Aakar Patel, and NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights challenging the directives.