The Supreme Court is the apex judicial body in India that resolves conflicts and delivers rulings on disputed cases that have been in national courts for years and decades. You would not think that controversy could erupt in the premises of the court, but reportedly, lawyers have been protesting and have taken the matter to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (ACAORA) regarding the meals served in the canteen during Navratri.
The controversy is over whether the meal served in the canteen should be vegetarian or if it sets the wrong example. Fighting over meals might seem petty but in a country where people of different religions coexist, this controversy is just one of many that have made headlines.
What Is The Supreme Court Canteen Controversy?
On Tuesday (October 1, 2024: two days before the celebration of Navratri), the top court allowed the serving of non-vegetarian food after receiving a letter from a group of protesting lawyers.
The letter was sent to Kapil Sibal, the President of the SCBA. A statement read, “For the first time this year, the Supreme Court canteen has announced that it will only serve Navratra food (vegetarian meals). This is not only unprecedented but will also set a very wrong precedent for the future.”
Owing to this argument, the canteen allowed non-vegetarian meals. But now another group of lawyers have approached the SCBA and other legal bodies calling out the resumption of non-vegetarian food service in the dining hall of the apex court during Navratri.
The nine-day festival marks the celebration of Goddess Durga in her nine forms. Therefore, many Hindu communities observe fast and abstain from eating tamasic foods like meat, fish, onion, egg, and garlic.
While writing the letter to the SCBA and SCAORA, senior advocate Rajat Nair shared his concern over the decision to resume non-vegetarian meals on the premises. He alleged that the decision was made without considering the religious sentiments of other bar members. They called this move against ‘pluralist traditions’.
The new letter, signed by 133 lawyers, reportedly read, "However, the aforesaid act of taking unilateral action by office bearers of SCBA/SCORA without consulting the remaining members of the bar or taking into consideration their sentiments has compelled me to write to your good self to officially register our protest in this regard so that such dissonant incidents do not happen in future.”
The letter also pointed out that only the main canteen of the Supreme Court decided to serve vegetarian meals. It suggested “no irreparable harm” would have happened if one of half a dozen canteens on the premises served vegetarian food for two days (of the nine-day Navratri celebration during which the apex court was supposed to function).