A Consumer redressal commission has said if meat-based food hurts a “strictly vegetarian” person’s religious sentiments, why should the individual opt to order from a restaurant serving both veg and non-veg items.
It seems reasonable that “a prudent person would be able to distinguish between veg and non-veg food before consuming,” the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mumbai Suburban (Additional) said in an order passed last month. The commission dismissed a complaint by two people against an eatery for allegedly wrongly serving them non-vegetarian food.
“If the complainants were strictly vegetarian and non-veg food hurts their religious sentiments, then why did they opt to order the food items from the restaurant which was delivering both non-veg and vegetarian food, instead of ordering the food from the restaurant which was exclusively vegetarian,” it said.
As per the complainants, they had ordered a steamed ‘Darjeeling momo combo’ with a soft drink from a Wow Momos outlet at Sion in Mumbai on December 19, 2020. They claimed to have specifically emphasised their vegetarian preference twice. However, they received steamed “chicken Darjeeling momos”, the complainants said.
The complainants claimed they suffered mental trauma, emotional distress and their religious feelings were hurt due to the negligence of the company. They sought Rs 6 lakh in compensation for the distress caused. The company, on the other hand, contended the complainants themselves ordered non-vegetarian items, as indicated by the invoice.
