SC upholds Lakshadweep administration's decision to drop meat from mid-day meals

New Delhi [India], September 14 : The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the decision of the Lakshadweep administration to exclude meat products, including chicken, from the midday meal menu for school children in the islands.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi refused to interfere with the administration’s decision saying the court cannot decide on what food should be eaten.
Dismissing the plea challenging the decision of the Lakshadweep administration, the bench said that courts of law cannot interfere with such policy or administrative decisions.
“It is not within the court’s domain to decide as to what would be the choice of food for children of a particular region. The court will have to accept the administrative decision in this regard unless some outstanding arbitrariness is pointed out. As we have already indicated, there is no legal breach so far as the decisions impugned are concerned. We accordingly dismiss the appeal. Policy decision would not come within the scope of judicial review,” said the bench.
The order of the top court came on an appeal filed against the Lakshadweep administration’s decision to remove meat from the midday meal scheme of the schools in the islands and close down dairy farms.
Earlier, the Supreme Court was informed by the Lakshwadeep administration that a decision was taken to exclude meat from the menu of midday meals in schools in the islands and include fruits and dry fruits in its place.
The Lakshwadeep administration said that the decision to omit meat and chicken was taken since regular islanders consume meat in their houses but consumption of fruits and dry fruits is less.
The appeal was filed by Ajmal Ahmed, a resident of Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, and a practising lawyer against the September 2021 judgment of the Kerala High Court which dismissed the PIL.
The PIL challenged the Lakshadweep administration's decision to exclude chicken and meat from mid-day meals and to close down the dairy farms in the region.
Before the High Court, the plea alleged that the removal of meat from the midday meal scheme is contrary to the National Programme of Midday Meals in schools as it goes against the very objective of ensuring physical and mental health of the children.
The plea had stated that the decision by the district task force to alter the menu was part of the administrator Praful Patel's ‘ill-motivated intention to implement his hidden agenda.’ In fact, the new menu was implemented without any deliberations and consultations, it added.
The petition had also sought a directive to the administration not to implement any reforms infringing on the ethnic culture, heritage, and food habits of the islanders.
Before dismissing the petition, the High Court had in June 2021 passed an interim order and stayed the administration's decisions.