New Delhi, March 11: Eggs can no longer be sold within the municipal limits of temple towns Hardwar, Rishikesh and Muni ki Reti.

The Supreme Court has upheld a municipality order banning the sale of eggs and meat because it hurt the sentiments of devotees and pilgrims who throng temples in Rishikesh.

Petitions were filed in the apex court by various traders against the municipality’s order. A division bench of Justices Shivraj V. Patil and D.M. Dharmadhikari heard these petitions on Tuesday and in separate but concurrent judgments upheld the municipality’s power to frame such rules in public interest.

The traders had said the order was an unreasonable restriction that affected their fundamental rights under Article 19. They added eggs were not covered under Section 298 of municipal law.

The Supreme Court said on March 9: “Mere omission to mention eggs in Section 298 does not make the amended bylaw invalid.” It added that the prohibition on sale of eggs within the Rishikesh municipal limits was not unreasonable as the bylaw banning the sale was in the “larger interest of welfare of the people”.

Several citizens, societies and organisations had requested the Rishikesh municipal board to prohibit the sale of eggs in public places. The municipality issued a notification, under challenge before the apex court, after getting the state government’s approval.

The judges said “maintenance of clean and congenial atmosphere in all religious places is in (the) common interests of the residents, pilgrims and visitors”. They added that a municipality had the power to amend bylaws.

Public dealing in meat, fish and eggs was banned by a notification on July 23, 1956.

The judges said it was “a matter of common knowledge that members of several communities in India” were strict vegetarians who shun meat, fish and eggs and visit Hardwar, Rishikesh and Muni ki Reti regularly.

The judges said the three towns derived most of their income from the continuous inflow of tourists and the floating population of pilgrims. Their presence provides locals a source of earning and employment.

The Supreme Court upheld a high court order on the issue, holding it was right in concluding that the municipality order was not an unreasonable restriction.