A group of Hindu residents can sue an Edison restaurant for money to travel to India, where they say that they must purify their souls after eating meat, a state appellate court panel has ruled

The decision by the three-judge panel reinstates a lawsuit filed against Moghul Express, the restaurant admitted that it accidentally served meat-filled pastries to 16 Hindus whose religion forbids them from eating non-vegetarian food. The diners said that the mix-up has harmed them spiritually and monetarily, and that to cleanse themselves of their sin — even though it was committed unknowingly — they must participate in a purification ritual in India’s Ganges River. "If you follow the scriptures, it’s definitely a huge cost," said Mehul Thakkar, a spokesman for the Yogi Divine Society in Lake Hiawatha, a nonprofit socio-religious organization that adheres to the principles of the Swaminarayan faith of Hinduism. "If they are very strict about it, there definitely is a fee involved." Thakkar said that the purification ceremony can last from three to 30 days, and that the cost of the trip, which can add up to thousands of dollars, is based on how much a participant can afford. Hinduism, the third largest religion in the world and which is dominant in the Indian subcontinent, holds that meat consumption affects the purity of the soul and that those who eat meat cannot be with God after death.