NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it is not within the court’s domain to decide the choice of food for children of a particular region.
It subsequently dismissed a petition challenging the Kerala High Court order, which upheld the Lakshadweep administration’s decision to exclude chicken, beef and other meat from the mid-day meal for school children.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi also said that the court cannot import personal preferences in policy matters. It added that the scope of judicial review is limited to matters that fall within the realm of executive policy.
“We do not find any error in the judgment of the Kerala High Court in dismissing the public interest litigation. So far as the mid-day meal is concerned, the administration has retained non-vegetarian items such as egg and fish, which Additional Solicitor General Nataraj submits are available in abundance in the said islands. What is being questioned in this appeal is a policy decision of the administration and no breach of any legal provision has been pointed out,” the bench said.