HC issues notice to Punjab govt over ban on sale of meat in Amritsar Walled City

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a notice to the Punjab govt over a petition challenging the prohibition on the sale of meat, fish and meat products in the Amritsar Walled City, which govt declared a ‘Holy City'.A division bench of Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi and Justice Deepak Manchanda on May 29 issued notice to the state and posted the matter for further consideration on June 22.The order was passed on a plea by Kuldeep Fish Company, a wholesaler of fish and raw meat, challenging the notification declaring the Walled City of Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib and Talwandi Sabo as ‘Holy Cities'.The decision prohibits the sale and use of meat and meat products within the notified areas. The petitioner submitted that such prohibitions had no statutory backing.It was argued that the state had employed executive power to enforce religious morality despite the Constitution not recognising any religion-based territorial classification."The respondents have neither defined ‘Holy City' nor ‘Walled City', including the jurisdiction and the territory to which the same would apply, nor have they disclosed the statutory backing under which the notifications dated Dec 15, 2025, have been issued," the petitioner submitted.The petitioner also argued that the state had not framed any rehabilitation policy for those dependent on the trade.A large number of persons belonging to other communities and tourists are being deprived of their lawful choice because of the prohibition, it was submitted."Complete prohibition within the Walled City of Amritsar, while permitting the very same activities in other parts of the same city, is wholly irrational, discriminatory, and devoid of any intelligible differentia," the plea added.