Hours after being struck down, Somnath temple non-veg food ban restored by Gujarat HC

Ahmedabad: Hours after a single judge of the Gujarat High Court struck down a ban on the sale of non-vegetarian food in the vicinity of the famous Somnath temple, a two-member High Court bench stayed her ruling on Friday.

A division bench of Chief Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak and Justice Nirzar Desai stayed the judgment of Justice Nisha Thakore following an urgent appeal moved by the Gujarat government, and directed that the Collector's notification banning the sale of non-veg food will continue for now.

The division bench will hear the matter next on December 26.

Earlier in the day, Justice Thakore allowed petitions filed by the owners of hotels and restaurants operating near the Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district and set aside the notification.

The Collector's order prohibits the sale of non-vegetarian food along designated pilgrimage routes.

The government immediately filed an appeal before the bench headed by Chief Justice Pathak, which stayed the single judge's order late in the evening.

The notification dated August 10, 2026, restricting the "preparation, storage and sale" of non-vegetarian food within a 500-metre radius of the Somnath temple along with six specifically identified roads connecting important religious destinations in the area that form part of the sacred Somnath pilgrimage circuit would continue, the bench said.

Hotel and restaurant owners contended in the petition that the restrictions infringed their fundamental right to carry on lawful business and earn their livelihood.

The state government submitted that the constitutional freedom to carry on a business did not mean a person can conduct every form of commercial activity at every location, irrespective of the religious, historical and cultural significance of the place.

Somnath is not an ordinary commercial town but has extraordinary spiritual importance for millions of Hindus, the government said.