India, Jan. 6 -- The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition challenging the ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and distribution of halal-certified food products but refused to protect halal certification providers against any coercive action.

A bench of justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while dealing with a petition filed by Halal India Private Limited, an internationally recognised halal certification provider which challenged the UP government's order of November 18, 2023 and also a criminal case lodged against it at Lucknow just a day prior to the order imposing ban. The ban was applicable within the state of UP and did not apply to exports.

The bench posted the m...