New Delhi: The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to frame a policy for regulating the sale and consumption of meat and non-vegetarian food items within a 100-metre area of places of worship, educational institutions and hospitals.
The court was hearing a plea by a businessperson, Bipin Ramdas Ippakayal, who planned to open a restaurant in Hyderabad’s Red Hills area. He leased a property in October last year with the objective of running the restaurant, which would serve non-vegetarian food. The property is in the vicinity of a Hanuman temple.
Pointing to the absence of any specific provision of law or rules on regulating the sale of meat around places of worship, a bench of Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, made it clear that such a policy should be drawn up within four weeks.
“Such policy/guidelines shall be framed keeping in view the religious sentiments of devotees of concerned temple/place of worship, the people of particular faith, the serenity and hygiene, law and order and traffic issues,” said the bench.
The policy should also include a provision of the requirement of a No-Objection Certificate or NOC from the police station concerned to establish a shop for the sale of meat or non-vegetarian food, so there are no law and order, or traffic issues, said the bench.
The court also made it clear that until such a policy or guidelines are drawn up, the status quo will be maintained with respect to the property.
In the present case, the court said the sale or consumption of meat or non-vegetarian food within the precincts of the temple “may hurt the religious sentiments of devotees of the Hanuman temple”.
“It is stated the Hanuman Temple had been in existence for more than hundred (100) years. It is commonly known that non-vegetarian food is completely banned within the precincts of a temple. Apart from the religious sentiments, it is also necessary to maintain serenity of the temple and hygiene in the temple surroundings,” the court said in its order.
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‘Obstructing construction’
Ippakayal approached the Telangana HC, claiming the state government was obstructing renovation and construction work at his property. He claimed the state government did not follow the due process of law in interfering in his business activity, and, hence, it should be declared “illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.
Before the court, different parties including the Great Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Telangana government, were also called to give their responses.
The restaurant owner told the court that he had started renovation and interior work in the property, and also obtained a licence to run the restaurant along with a safety license from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
While the petitioners argued that commercial activity in their property had not yet commenced, substantial investments were made towards interiors and the property’s infrastructure.
The respondents, including the state government, said he was operating a non-vegetarian restaurant in the property, without obtaining any trade license, which violated a November 2025 Telangana HC order where the worker employed at such an establishment was forcibly detained.
The petitioner’s lawyer also submitted before the court that they were being repeatedly harassed under the guise of preventing law and order problems, and managing traffic.
This also interfered with the petitioner’s renovation works, the lawyer said, adding the authorities were interfering with the construction under the guise of investigating.
“In the very same building, another restaurant by the name of Matam-Al-Yamani, which serves non-vegetarian food, is being operated since a very long time without any interference from any corner and the petitioner is selectively targeted,” the petitioner argued, claiming the authorities were clearly acting in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.
The legality
Relying on Section 521(1)(e)(i) of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955, which relates to things not to be kept and certain trades and operations not to be carried on, without a license, the petitioners argued that such matters fell solely under the GHMC’s jurisdiction, and that action ought to be have been taken in case of any issue or violation.
Instead, what was happening was that the authorities were interfering with the business activity of the restaurant without following due process of law in an unsustainable manner, they said
The court took note of the photographs, presented by the GHMC’s lawyer of a ‘live kitchen counter’ (popularly known as kabab centre) already installed by the petitioner.
The court said the Telangana government should come up with a state policy regulating the sale or consumption of meat within a 100-meter distance from the places of public worship, educational institutions and hospitals.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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