The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to examine the legality of directives issued by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand authorities asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes revealing owner details, an order critics have condemned as a “camouflage” for religious profiling that disproportionately targets Muslim vendors, Live Law reported.
A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N.K. Singh disposed of the interlocutory applications challenging the QR code directive issued by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand authorities.
“We are told that today is the last day of the Yatra. In any case, it is likely to come to an end in the near future,” the Supreme Court observed, as it disposed of the interlocutory applications challenging the QR code directive.
“At this stage, we would only pass an order that all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and the registration certificate as per the statutory requirements,” the bench stated.
Clarifying the scope of its ruling, the Court added, “We make it clear that we are not going into the other issues argued. The application is closed.”
The court, however, clarified that all vendors are legally required to display their licenses and registration certificates.
The petition filed by Professor Apoorvanand and activist Aakar Patel sought a stay on all directives mandating or facilitating the public disclosure of ownership or employee identity of food vendors along the Kanwar Yatra routes in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, arguing that such orders violate the Supreme Court’s interim ruling from last year, which held that sellers cannot be compelled to reveal their identities.
In an interim order issued on July 22 last year, the Supreme Court stayed the Uttar Pradesh government’s directive mandating shopkeepers along Kanwar Yatra routes to display their names, clarifying that they are only required to mention the type of food served at their establishments.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
