UNITED STATES, July 19, 2011: A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a group of 16 Hindu diners can sue to be flown to India to resolve a dispute over an order of samosas. Two years ago the diners went to Moghul Express restaurant in Edison for an India Day celebration. They were supposed to have been given a vegetarian meal. But they were served meat-filled samosa pastries, a mistake the restaurant acknowledged, according to court papers.
The diners said that under the tenets of their religion, their consumption of meat had damaged the purity of their souls, affecting their relationship to God in the afterlife. They said that they needed to be flown to India to perform a purification ritual in the Ganges River and they sued the restaurant for travel expenses.
The case was dismissed last year in Superior Court, but it was reported Tuesday that a three-judge appeals panel has reinstated the suit, saying that because the restaurant had assured the diners that they were getting vegetarian samosas, the case could go forward as a “breach of express warranty” claim.