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Informist, Friday, Jul 26, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today continued till Aug 5 its stay on orders in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other states asking eateries and stalls on the route of the Kanwar Yatra to display the names of their owners. The top court clarified that there was no issue for voluntarily displaying names and the stay order says that eateries cannot be forced to put out owner names and employee names outside their premises.

 

The top court was informed that the Uttar Pradesh government had filed an affidavit on the matter late on Thursday. Stating that the affidavit was not on record, the apex court adjourned the matter till Aug 5. 

 

Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government, said that Regulation 2.1.1 (5) of the Food and Safety Standards (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 requires that every food seller, including dhabas, must display the names of the owners. He said that the interim order passed by the apex court was contrary to the food and safety standards' law. 

 

Rohatgi requested for an early hearing date, saying the matter will otherwise become infructuous as the Kanwar Yatra will be over in two weeks. Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, said that since there was no mandate to display owners' names during the Kanwar pilgrimages of the last 60 years, there was no harm in allowing the yatra this year without the enforcement of such directions. 

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

 

The counsel for the Uttarakhand government said the law mandated the display of the owners' names and the interim order was creating problems. If an unregistered vendor causes any mischief along the Kanwar Yatra route, it will lead to law and order problems, said the counsel. Meanwhile, the counsel for Madhya Pradesh government denied a news report that Ujjain Municipal Corporation had issued a similar directive. 

 

Last week, the Uttar Pradesh government had mandated food and beverage shops along the routes of the ongoing Kanwar Yatra to display the name and identity of the owner or operators of their establishments. This was also followed up by the government of Uttarakhand.  

The court was hearing petitions by a non-government organisation Association for Protection of Civil Rights, political commentator Apoorvanand, Aakar Patel and Trinamool Congress' 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 idea behind it was transparency and informed choice of Kanwariya regarding the food they eat during the period of the Yatra, said the state. 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 where lakhs and crores of people are walking barefoot carrying holy water, it added.

 

The Uttar Pradesh government said that the Food and Safety Standards (Licensing & 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 lacking registration. 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 the manner of preparation of the food, similar to "falhar" during other festivals when fasting is undertaken, it added.

 

The state government said that the directives do not impose any discrimination based on religion, caste, or community. The requirement to display the names and identities of the owners applies uniformly to all food sellers along the Kanwar Yatra route, irrespective of their religious or community affiliations, it added.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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