A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the government’s March 2020 circular, allaying fears about the consumption of non-vegetarian food amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The petition, filed by Vishwa Jain Sangathan, said the circular “promoting the eating of meat” was issued by the Animal Husbandry Ministry under pressure from the “butchers’ lobby”. It said the Ministry did not wait to hear from researchers on whether COVID-19 was transmitted from animals to humans.
“The circular advising people to eat meat in the midst of the spread of this deadly virus is premature. It was issued when biologists all over world were still searching for the source and its interface with animals,” the petition said. It said the eating habits of “some people” had jeopardised humanity.