Three Jain religious bodies and a Mumbai resident have moved the Bombay High Court seeking a ban on advertisements of non-vegetarian food items in any media, saying it was an “utter violation of the right to live in peace”. The PIL filed before the court stated that showing or displaying such promotionals in vegetarian households was an infringement of constitutional and fundamental rights.
Not only this, the petition also calls for companies selling non-vegetarian food to print a warning on their packaging stating: “Consumption of non-vegetarian food is harmful to health and environment”, according to a report by Live Law. It stated while people are free to eat non-veg food, those who practised vegetarianism were being “forced” to watch these advertisements “without their consent”.
The matter will come up for hearing on Monday before a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav J Jamdar. The PIL has been filed by three Jain religious charitable trusts – Shree Atma Kamal Labdhi Surishwarji Jain Gyanmandir Trust, Sheth Motisha Religious and Charitable Trust, Shree Vardhman Parivar – as well as businessman Jyotindra Ramniklal Shah.
“If some people want to eat non-vegetarian foods, they are free to do the same but showing/displaying the non-vegetarian foods in the houses of the people who are vegetarian is not good and proper and the same affects their constitutional and fundamental rights,” the report quotes the petition.
