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The Uttar Pradesh police have registered cases against several organisations for allegedly issuing forged 'halal' certification for edible and cosmetic products for financial gains exploiting religious sentiments of a particular community.
According to the police sources here, the organisations which have been booked were based in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.
The FIR registered under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 153 A (promoting enmity among different groups), 384 (extortion), 471 (use of forged documents) and others of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The FIR said that some organisations had been issuing 'halal' certificates to several products using forged documents for the purpose of making financial gains by exploiting the religious feelings of a particular community. ''These organisations have no authority to issue such certificates'', it said.
It also said that such acts could foment communal disharmony and were akin to religious exploitation.
The FIR said that there could be a conspiracy behind issuance of 'halal' certificates and that there was also an attempt to decrease the sale of the products of the companies which had not obtained the 'halal' certificates from these organisations.
"The items for which halal certificates are being issued also included .oils, toothpaste and soaps whereas these items do not require such certification," it added.
Halal certification is a kind of attestation that a product has been manufactured in accordance with the beliefs of Islam and that it did not have any forbidden components and is religiously pure.
Sources said that the state government had taken a serious view of the matter and that a ban might be imposed on the sale of halal certified products in the state.