The Supreme Court order had come March 14, 2008, against a Gujarat High Court order, staying a ban on sale of meat ordered by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation had acted on a plea made by Hinsa Virodhak Sangh, an NGO propagating a ban on animal slaughter and the sale of meat during 'Paryushan Parva', a Jain festival.

According to insiders in the Uttar Pradesh government, it was the overzealous approach of the animal husbandry minister that led to the faux pas in the state. Officials did not even care to check the date of the Jain festival, which commences from Aug 21, coinciding with the commencement of Ramadan.

'There was no way that we could accept such an order,' said Maulana Khalid Rasheed, Lucknow's Naib Imam and head of the citys oldest Islamic seminary Firangi Mahal.

'After all, this would not only affect the livelihood of those involved in the business of selling meat and non-vegetarian food but also affect the lives of all Muslims during the forthcoming month of Ramadan,' he added.

'It is in good time that the government realised its mistake and has withdrawn the order, but still it is important that an inquiry be ordered to get to the root of such an order that could have unnecessarily posed a threat to the social and communal order in the state.'