No non-vegetarian food, mandates Returning Officer

A family from Holenarsipur was in for a shock when it approached the Returning Officer of their Assembly constituency seeking permission to hold a wedding feast recently. The Returning Officer gave permission but on a number of conditions, including that non-vegetarian food should not be served.

The Hindu has received a copy of the permission letter. The Holenarsipur Returning Officer had given permission for the programme with nine conditions, including that the party not disrupt traffic and not use sound systems without police permission.

“We are holding the programme to serve non-vegetarian food to our relatives. This is the custom practised by all communities eating non-vegetarian food in Hassan and neighbouring districts. How can we hold the programme without offering non-vegetarian food?” a family member asked.

When The Hindu contacted Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer, who is also the District Election Officer, to check if the Election Commission had imposed a restriction on serving non-vegetarian food at weddings, he asked which Returning Officer had mandated such a condition. He promised to look into the matter.