Supreme Court upholds omission of meat from midday meals in Lakshadweep

New Delhi, September 14

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday upheld Lakshadweep administration’s decision to exclude meat products from the midday meal menu for schoolchildren, saying courts can’t decide on what food should be consumed.

“It’s not the court’s domain as to what food should be eaten by children of a particular region. There is no scope of interference by courts of law on that count. Policy decisions would not come within the purview of judicial review,” a Bench led by Justice Aniruddha Bose said, dismissing a petition challenging the Lakshadweep administration’s decision. The Kerala High Court had on June 22, 2021, stayed the operation of two orders of the Lakshadweep administration to close down dairy farms and remove meat products from the menu for midday meals.

A Division Bench of the high court had in September 2021 dismissed the PIL filed by advocate Ajmal Ahmed, who alleged that when Praful Khoda Patel took charge as the island’s administrator his top priority was to close down the farms run by the animal husbandry department and to “attack” the food habits of the islanders. “We find force in the contention advanced by the learned counsel for the administration that due to the geographical conditions of the islands non-availability of green fodder cannot be ruled out, which, in fact, will interfere with the smooth conduct of the animal husbandry activities and less production of milk,” the HC had said.