Kanwar Yatra: Plea in SC against UP/Uttarakhand govt diktat to food sellers to display QR code about owners’ details

An application in the Supreme Court has challenged directives issued by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to the food sellers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR code stickers to enable pilgrims to access owners’ details.

Advertisement

Filed in an already pending petition by Apoorvanand, the application sought a stay of all directives requiring public disclosure of ownership/employee identity of food vendors along Kanwar Yatra routes in the two states on the ground that these directions went against the top court’s interim order passed last year that said sellers can't be forced to disclose their identities.

The matter is likely to come up for hearing before a Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice NK Singh on July 15.

Terming it as an attempt to circumvent the top court's order, applicant Apoorvanand alleged that the authorities issued new directions mandating the display of QR codes on all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to reveal names and identities of food sellers.

Alleging that the intention behind the direction was to cause religious profiling of the sellers along the pilgrim route and to cause religious polarisation and discrimination, he contended that it was not backed by law.

"The new measures mandate the display of QR codes on all eateries along the Kanwar route, which reveal the names and identities of the owners, thereby achieving the same discriminatory profiling that was previously stayed by this Hon'ble (Supreme) Court," the applicant contended.

"That a directive to reveal religious, caste identities couched under the garb of “lawful licence requirements” is a breach of privacy rights. The requisite license is a self-contained certificate, which although reveals the name of the owner, is displayed inside the premises at a place where it may be accessed. Equating this requirement to display a normal-sized licence with the directive to display name of owner, manager and other employees on billboards outside, or to not give eateries names which do not reflect the religious identity of the owner are de hors the license requirements," it submitted.