Licenses for meat shops cannot be granted within 50 meters of a public temple according to applicable statutory and regulatory provisions.

Order

01/09/2025 Reportable

1. “Whether a license to run a meat shop can be granted within the radius of 50 meters of a place of worship?” This question is required to be decided in these petitions.

2. Since, common questions of fact and law arise in all the three petitions, hence, with the consent of counsel for the parties, the matters are taken up for final disposal and are accordingly being decided by this common order.

3. For the sake of convenience, the prayer mentioned in SB Civil Writ Petition No. 4983/2025 has been taken into consideration:-

“(a) By an appropriate writ, order or direction, the Show Cause Notice dated 01.10.2024 along with the order dated 23.10.2024 (Annexure-5) passed by Nagar Nigam (Greater) Jaipur whereby the license of the petitioner has been cancelled, be quashed and set aside.

b) By writ, order or direction, the respondent be directed to permit the petitioner to carry on his business, uninterruptedly.

c) By writ, order or direction, the order dated 11.03.2025 passed by the District Collector, Jaipur (Annexure-15) be quashed and set aside.

d) Any other appropriate writ,order or direction, which this Hon’ble Court considers just and proper in the facts and circumstances of this case, may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner.”

4. By way of filing these writ petitions, the petitioners have challenged the impugned order dated 11.03.2025 passed by the District Collector, Jaipur whereby the appeal, preferred by the petitioner under Section 269 (4) of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009 (for short, ‘the Act of 2009’), against the impugned order dated 17.02.2025 has been rejected.

5. By the impugned order dated 17.02.2025, the license of the petitioners to run a meat shop has been cancelled.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners were granted licenses to run the meat shop. However, all of a sudden, a show cause notice dated 01.10.2024 was issued to them for cancellation of their licenses and subsequently, by the impugned order dated 17.02.2025, the licenses of the petitioners were cancelled giving in reference to certain Standard of Procedure (for short, ‘the SoP’). Counsel further submits that the SoP dated 22.03.2021 does not carry any statutory force, and in any case, the same cannot be issued contrary to the provisions of the Act of 2009. Counsel submits that the sole reason given for cancellation of the licenses is that the petitioners’ shops are situated within 50 meters radius of a temple. Counsel submits that the alleged temple is merely a personal temple of certain shopkeepers and it is not a public temple registered with the Devasthan Department. Counsel further submits that in these circumstances, cancellation of the petitioners’ licences is wholly unwarranted and these facts have been overlooked by the Deputy Commissioner as well as the District Collector while passing the orders impugned. Hence, under these circumstances, interference of this Court is warranted.

In support of her contentions, learned counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance upon the order passed by this Court while deciding S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.8274/2025 titled as Nadeem Ansari & Ors. Vs. The State of Rajasthan & Ors on

30.05.2025.

7. Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents opposes the submissions made by counsel for the petitioners and submits that the SoP has been issued in pursuance of the provisions contained under Section 269 read with Section 340 of the Act of 2009 and as per Clause-4 of the said SoP, no license can be granted for running a meat shop if it is situated within a radius of 50 meters of a public temple or school. Counsel s