“No Unsafe Food Items To Enter J&K": High Court Orders Crackdown On Rotten Meat & Adulterated Products

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court directed the Inspector Generals of Police, Jammu and Kashmir Divisions, and the Commissioner, Food Safety and Controller, Drugs and Food Control Organization, UT of J&K, to ensure that “no unsafe food, in terms of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, is funnelled into the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.”A bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Mir Umar, highlighting the rampant sale of rotten and unhygienic meat and poultry products in the UT, coupled with administrative negligence and failure of enforcement by municipal and food safety authorities.Court's Directions & ObservationsTaking note of repeated reports of rotten meat, adulterated poultry, and unhygienic consignments being transported without certification or cold-chain facilities, the Court emphasized the urgency of judicial intervention, the court said that “Immediate judicial intervention is warranted to address grave public health crisis in the J&K, particularly Kashmir valley, that stems from large scale sale of rotten, unhygienic meat, fish and poultry products.”The Court also ordered that the Department of Sheep and Animal Husbandry, Housing and Urban Development Department, Commissioner Sales Tax, and Inspector Generals of Police for both zones be impleaded as parties, given their statutory responsibilities in supervising slaughterhouses, municipal regulation, and enforcement of food safety laws.Citing a newspaper column titled “Meet the Meat Mafia”, counsel for the petitioner submitted that a hidden cartel supplies Kashmir with meat “not fit for animals, let alone humans.” He alleged systemic inaction and gross negligence by the authorities despite multiple government advisories.He pointed to newspaper and TV reports about unhygienic imports of meat and poultry, failure to enforce the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, and dereliction under the J&K Municipal Corporation Act, 2000Counsel for the petitioner also flagged that certain traders previously involved in the rotten meat trade had now shifted to selling synthetic/adulterated cheese. Based on intelligence from GRP Jammu, the Food Safety Wing seized 2,100 kg of adulterated cheese from Shri Balaji Trading Company and 78 tins of expired mustard oil.Senior AAG Mohsin Qadri fairly conceded that the matter was being pursued “in the right earnest for public good” and assured that a comprehensive affidavit outlining preventive measures would be filed before the next hearing.BackgroundThe PIL was initiated in August 2025 after disturbing reports surfaced about the unchecked sale of unhygienic meat in Kashmir. On August 20, 2025, the Court had issued notice to authorities and arrayed the Commissioner, Food Safety and Controller, Drugs and Food Control Organisation as a respondent, while observing that municipal corporations of Jammu and Srinagar had failed to assist the Court despite the sensitivity of the issue.The case has since broadened in scope, now covering not only rotten meat and poultry but also adulterated cheese and expired edible oils being funneled into the UT.APPEARANCE: MIR UMAR Vs UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND ORS.For PetitionerMr. Jehangir Iqbal Ganai, Sr. Advocate (Amicus Curiae)Mr. Shafqat Nazir, AdvocateMr. Mir Umar, Petitioner in Person ...Petitioner(s)/Appellant(s)For RespondentMr. Mohsin Qadri, Sr. AAGMr. Bikramdeep Singh, Dy. AGMr. Hakim Aman Ali, Dy. AGMr. Waseem Gul, GAClick Here To Read/Download Order

“No Unsafe Food Items To Enter J&K": High Court Orders Crackdown On Rotten Meat & Adulterated Products

Aleem Syeed

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