New Delhi: Delhi High Court has lifted a stay on a Delhi government ban on the use of animal-origin material in making silver leaf, used as a decoration on sweets.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar, however, permitted manufacturers to dispose of their existing stocks of silver leaf, which is also used in Unani and Ayurvedic medicines.

The state curbs had followed a central ban of 2016 on the ground that such a traditional method of making the leaves, which involved use of intestine of a cow or buffalo, was unhygienic and carried the risk of infection and contamination.

The court passed the order after some manufacturers of the silver leaf - also known as chandi ka warq - filed a petition and said they would persuade the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that their method was hygienic.

The traditional method involves hammering silver into a thin shape while placed inside the intestine of a cow or buffalo.

The FSSAI, which had issued the ban inJuly 2016, had told the court that there was a new method of manufacturing that involved beating sheets of black specially treated paper and polyester sheets coated with food-grade calcium powder.

The petitioners had, on the other hand, contended that their method was not unhygienic as the animal skin was dried and processed to make it hygienic.

The court asked the petitioners to make a representation before the FSSAI and expressed hope that the authority would take a decision and communicate it within three months of receiving the request. PTI