Sabarimala Halal Jaggery Case: Kerala High Court seeks Food & Safety Dept response, petitioner wants views of Tantri too

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Commissioner of the Food and Safety Department to file a statement in the case alleging the use of spoiled and halal certified jaggery to prepare nivedyam/prasada at the Sabarimala Temple (SJR Kumar v Travancore Devaswom Board & Ors)..A Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajithkumar sought the response of the Food and Safety Department, and will also be considering an application filed by the petitioner to obtain the Sabarimala Temple Tantri's views on the matter..The Court issued the directive while it was hearing a plea filed by the General Convenor of the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, seeking directions to immediately stop the use of what was alleged to be "impure halal Jaggery" for the preparation of Nivedyam/prasad at the Sabarimala Temple.The plea, filed through advocate Sajith Kumar V, contended that the use of expired or halal certified jaggery is illegal on two fronts:use of spoiled materials would create health hazards to the innocent devotees;use of Halal certified jaggery which is prepared as per the religious practices of another religion in the temple and offering the same to the deity would amount to serious violation of religious customs and rituals followed at the temple from time immemorial..At an earlier hearing, the State government had submitted that the jaggery that had remained unused in 2019-2020 due to the Covid lockdown had been auctioned off for use in preparation of cattle feed. The State had filed a response detailing the elaborate quality control mechanisms that are in place at the Temple before and after the preparation of nivedyam/prasada.For the Halal certification aspect, the Sabarimala Special Commissioner said in his report that for export to some Middle East countries, such certification is required and hence, such certification is displayed on the cover of the packages containing the jaggery that are produced by the company that provides jaggery to the temple as well..Today, a reply affidavit was filed on behalf of the petitioner in which it was stated that the contention that old and unsafe Jaggery will be used as raw material for the manufacture of cattle feed and allied products is not bonafide as the company to which it was auctioned off to are allegedly in the hotels and restaurants business.It was further contented that "the requirement of Halal certification for export to some Arab countries itself shows that there is some distinguishable characteristics to such products that distinguish them from the quality standards prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006".The involvement of the Tantri was also sought because it is claimed that as as per Hindu religious beliefs, in a temple, in every matter involving the sanctity and serenity of the deity embodied in the holy shrine, the opinion of the Tantri is regarded as most sacred.Therefore, it was prayed that directions may be issued to obtain the opinion of the Tantri on the "propriety of using Halal Jaggery in preparing Nivedyam for the Lord Ayyappa and the remedial measures required at the Temple, otherwise serious prejudice will be caused to the Petitioner and to the devotees of Lord Ayyappa"..The matter will be taken up next on Wednesday, November 24.