Gujarat High Court division bench stays a single judge order that had quashed a food restriction notification near Somnath

30 October 2026

A division bench of the Gujarat High Court has stayed a single judge order that had quashed a District Magistrate's notification restricting non-vegetarian food on seven public routes and within 500 metres of the Somnath temple. The notification had been issued under Section 33(1)(w) of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951. Justice Nisha M. Thakore held that the provision covers only places of public entertainment and that the phrase eating house had been removed from that definition by a 2018 amendment, so the power could not be used to regulate what a restaurant serves. She also held that the restriction was disproportionate and infringed the right to carry on trade under Article 19(1)(g), and that eating or not displaying such food is not an essential religious practice under Article 25. The State appealed the same evening and the division bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak, stayed the order and kept the notification in force until the next hearing.