The Gujarat High Court Division Bench has stayed a Single Judge’s order quashing the District Magistrate’s notification imposing restrictions on the preparation, sale and storage of non-vegetarian food, meat, fish and eggs in specified areas around the Somnath Temple. The Bench directed that the notification dated August 10, 2026, would remain in force until the next hearing.
The development took place on the same day the Single Judge, Justice Nisha M. Thakore, had allowed a petition filed by restaurant owners and quashed the notification as being beyond the powers conferred under the Gujarat Police Act, 1951, and violative of their right to carry on trade under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
The notification, issued by the District Magistrate, Gir Somnath, under Section 33(1)(w) of the Act, prohibited the preparation, sale and storage of non-vegetarian food, meat, fish and eggs along specified routes and areas around the temple, including within a 500-metre radius.
The State immediately challenged the Single Judge’s decision by filing a Letters Patent Appeal. The Division Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak and Justice Nirzar S. Desai, took up the matter urgently at around 5:30 pm on the same day.
The State argued that the restrictions were necessary in view of the large number of devotees expected to visit Somnath during the upcoming Deepavali and Gujarati New Year celebrations. Staying the Single Judge’s order, the Division Bench directed:
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“The Final Notification dated 10.08.2026 issued by the District Magistrate, Gir Somnath under Section 33(1)(w) of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951 shall remain in force till the returnable date and the order passed by the learned Single Judge in Special Civil Application No. 13977 of 2026 today (30.10.2026) shall remain stayed until further orders.”
The Bench issued notice and made it returnable on November 25, 2026. It also directed that the appeal be listed along with a pending petition.
