NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Monday stayed directives by authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand requiring eateries along the Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage route to display their owners’ names outside the establishments, The Scroll news portal said.

The bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti passed the interim order while issuing notice on a batch of petitions challenging the directives. The court, however, said that the eateries must display information about the type of food they are serving.

On July 17, SSP Muzaffarnagar directed the eateries along the Hindu pilgrims’ route to display the owners’ names. The direction was extended statewide on July 19. Reportedly, the directive is now being rigorously enforced across all districts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The report said three petitions had been filed before the Supreme Court against the said directive: first, by NGO-Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR); second, by TMC MP Mahua Moitra, and third, by well-known political commentator and Delhi University academic Apoorvanand Jha and columnist Aakar Patel.

Eateries along Hindu pilgrimage route told to display owners’ names; petitioners argue directives threaten a religious divide

The petitioners argue that the directives threaten a religious divide and violate the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed under various articles of the Indian constitution. It is further claimed that they violate the right to privacy of owners and workers of eateries, exposing them to danger and making them targets.

During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the “rational nexus” behind the directives. He pointed out that the situation is worrisome as police authorities have taken upon themselves to create a religious divide.

Dr Singhvi, on behalf of the petitioners, claimed that the directives would virtually identify the owners and subject them to economic boycotts.

In response, the bench asked if the impugned directives were formal orders or part of a press statement. On this, Dr Singhvi clarified that earlier, statements were given in the press, but later, the authorities started enforcing them as even UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath endorsed them.

“It has never been done before. It has no statutory backing. No law gives police commissioners the power to do it. The directive is for every haath-gaadi (hawkers), tea-stalls…Giving of names of employees and owners does not serve any purpose,” said Dr Singhvi.

When Justice Roy asked again if any formal order had been issued by the government, Dr Singhvi replied that it was a case of “camouflaged order”, as the eatery owners and workers were damned regardless of whether they complied with the directives or not.

Trinamool Congress MP Moitra and the APCR had filed petitions challenging the directives, while Prof Jha and activist Patel had also jointly filed a similar plea.

They contended that the directives would facilitate discrimination on the grounds of religion and caste, and that they violate fundamental rights.

The directives applied to the proprietors of dhabas, food stalls and hotels along the pilgrimage route in UP’s Muzaffarnagar and Uttarakhand’s Haridwar.

In 2023, priest Yashveer Maha­raj had demanded that Muslim owners of establishments display their names on their businesses.

During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees, called Kanwariyas, walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from the Ganga near Haridwar and carry it back to their home states to offer at temples.

The devotees mainly come from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. This year’s Kanwar Yatra started on Monday and will conclude on Aug 2.

In Madhya Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, the civic body in Ujjain has directed all shops in its jurisdiction to display their owners’ names and mobile numbers to ensure “customer safety”, PTI reported on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2024