FIR against halal certification agencies, others

The complainant alleged that the agencies forced product manufacturing companies to take halal certification and extorted money, even if they did not make any animal products or by-products

Lucknow The state government has taken a stiff stance on halal certification made mandatory by certain organizations for sale of different products, including vegetarian FMCG (fast growing consumer goods) products and cosmetics which do not require any such certification.

The complainant mentioned in the FIR that these halal certification agencies were suspected to have connivance with several anti-national, separatist and terror organizations. (Pic for representation)

On Friday, the Lucknow police had registered an FIR at Hazratganj police station against four such organizations, production companies, their owners and managers as well as other unidentified people involved in unnecessarily extorting money in the name of halal certification and promoting enmity in the name of religion and also funding different anti-national, separatist and terror organizations.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of a city-based social worker Shailendra Kumar Sharma, resident of Moti Jheel colony, Aishbagh in Lucknow. HT has a downloaded copy of the FIR.

The Indian Penal Code sections 153-A for promoting enmity between two groups on the ground of religion, 420 for fraud, 467 for forging documents, 468 for using forged documents for cheating, 471 for using forged documents as genuine, 384 for extorting money and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 298 for statements with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person and 505 for statements conducing public mischief have been included in the FIR registered in the matter.

Those made accused in the FIR included Halal India Pvt Ltd of Chennai, Jamiat Ulama Hind Halal Trust of Delhi, Halal Counselling of India and Jamiat Ulama of Mumbai, Maharashtra as well as some unidentified people involved in extorting money in the name of halal certification. .

In the FIR, the complainant also mentioned that he had witnessed this racket operated by some private agencies forcing different product companies to take their certification for sale of their products in Indian markets which did not require halal certification.

The complainant said the halal certification is a guarantee that the food or product was prepared in accordance with Islamic law and was unadulterated. He said a product containing animals or animal by-products that were considered haram could not receive a halal certificate. “Our country is a democratic country where any agency legitimised by the Government of India is legal and not the agency given legitimisation by any particular religion,” he said while talking on phone.

Welcoming the move to act against halal certification, Hindu Maha Sabha spokesman Shishir Chaturvedi explained that this halal certification in India was usually provided by a private third party body. He said there was no legal authority in the country that provided the certificate, unlike Arab countries where a magistrate granted the halal certification. He said these third party bodies unnecessarily forced manufacturing companies to take halal certification even if it was not required for that particular product.

The complainant further mentioned in the FIR that these halal certification agencies were suspected to have connivance with several anti-national, separatist and terror organizations and funding such organizations by extorting and making money through this process.