ahmedabad the gujarat high court on thursday ordered meetings between government departments and the associations of meat shop owners to resolve issues the court took the decision after being approached by 21 owners whose meat shops were sealed by the governmentthe hc was flooded with applications to join the pil that demanded strict implementation of the supreme courts directions to disallow slaughterhouses and meat shops from operating without the required licences the action was also to be taken against shops and abattoirs that did not conform to hygiene standards they complained that though they had the requisite licences authorities had issued vague notices forcing them to close shops or witness them being sealedthe shop owners complained that while the government following the hcs observations closed meat shops by pointing out defaults in observing rules it has not fulfilled its duties despite representations made over decades there are only three functioning slaughterhouses in the state and the authorities have not bothered to provide designated markets for meat vendors in the absence of adequate slaughterhouses stamped meat is not available they also questioned the hygiene standards that the authorities insisted on with various complaints the meat shop owners urged the hc to allow them to join the litigationat this juncture government pleader manisha shah suggested a meeting involving officials of the urban development department the animal husbandry department the health department the gujarat pollution control board and the food safety commissionerate with the leaders of the associations of meat shop owners she submitted such a meeting would lead to the resolution of issuesall the lawyers in the case agreed to the proposal by accepting the contention that this would narrow down the dispute and shorten the litigation the petitioners counsel however expressed doubt about any consensus that could be reached in this meeting looking at the scs directions that an unlicensed shop or abattoir cannot be allowed to operate at allthe hc directed the joint meetings to be held in all districts under the guidance of the government pleader but before that it sought a concise note on the sc directions and checklist for any shop owner to qualify for business the hc has posted a further hearing on february 24 when the petitioners counsel would place the note before the court