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Informist, Tuesday, Jul. 15, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on pleas against the state government's directive to make it mandatory for all food establishments along the Kanwar Yatra route to display a QR code that allows pilgrims to access ownership details. The top court listed the matter for hearing on Jul. 22. 

 

The petitioner, Apoorvanand Jha, an academician, and other parties argued that the display of QR codes across all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route was a breach of privacy rights. Jha further said revealing the names and identities of the eatery owners through QR codes had the effect of "discriminatory profiling" and was stigmatising. 

 

Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage undertaken by devotees of Lord Shiva who travel to key Hindu pilgrimage sites to fetch holy water from the Ganga.

 

Last year, the top court had stayed the orders of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other states asking eateries and stalls on the route of Kanwar Yatra to display the names of their owners. The court was hearing petitions by a non-government organisation, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, political commentator Apoorvanand, journalist Aakar Patel and Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra. Petitioners Apoorvanand and Aakar Patel had sought the top court's intervention to ask the states to withdraw the orders.

 

The Uttar Pradesh government, in an affidavit, had backed the directives issued by the state police against eateries. The state said the idea behind the move was to enhance transparency and ensure Kanwariyas make informed choices regarding the food they eat during the Yatra. This was done keeping in mind their religious sentiments so that they don't, even accidentally, fall foul of their beliefs as such situations would obviously lead to flare-ups, it added.

 

The Uttar Pradesh government said that the Food and Safety Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations state that it requires registration of all petty food businesses and mandatory disclosure of the photo ID of the owner and registration certificate, which sadly is lacking in most dhabas, with some even being unregistered. It added that Kanwariyas follow a strict vegetarian, Satvik diet, eschewing onion, garlic and all other Tamasic foods. Satvik food does not just mean the preparation of food without onion and garlic, but is also about the manner of preparation of the food, similar to "falhar" during other festivals when fasting is undertaken, it added.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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