NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to respond within a week to a series of petitions challenging the state’s order requiring all eateries along the ‘Kanwar’ yatra route to display QR codes revealing the names and identities of their owners.
A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh issued notice to the state government and posted the matter for further hearing on 22 July.
The petition was filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha and others, who argued that the directive violates the right to privacy and amounts to discriminatory profiling under the guise of lawful licensing.
Referring to a press release issued by the Uttar Pradesh administration on 25 June, the petitioners said the QR code mandate replicates earlier directives that were stayed by the Supreme Court last year. At that time, the court had put on hold similar instructions from BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, which required food stall and eatery owners along the yatra route to disclose their names, staff details, and religious affiliations.
“The new measures mandating the display of QR codes reveal the names and identities of the owners, thereby achieving the same discriminatory profiling that was previously stayed by this court,” the plea stated.
The petitioners further argued that the directive effectively forces stall owners to reveal their religious and caste identities, cloaked under “lawful license requirements”, thereby infringing on their fundamental right to privacy as guaranteed under the Constitution.
The court had earlier ruled that sellers along the Kanwar Yatra route cannot be compelled to disclose their identities, making the recent directive contrary to its previous orders, the petitioners noted.
A large number of devotees undertake the annual Kanwar Yatra during the Hindu calendar month of Shravan, carrying holy water from the Ganga to offer ‘jalabhishek’ on Shivlings. Many participants abstain from eating meat, and even meals containing onions or garlic during this period, leading to scrutiny of food stalls along the route.
The petitioners urged the court to seek immediate withdrawal of the directive and ensure compliance with its earlier rulings.