The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (July 21) stayed the directions issued by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments, that directed eateries in Kanwar Yatra route to display names of owners and staff members.
While hearing a petition challenging the Uttar Pradesh government directive, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti on Monday (July 21) passed an interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the government directives, reported LiveLaw.
The bench clarified in its order that eateries should display the type of food being served.
The Supreme Court also issued notices to the concerned state governments.
Earlier, Delhi University professor Apoorvanand and human rights activist Aakar Patel moved the Supreme Court on Sunday (July 21) against the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ directive to shopkeepers, asking them to display names of owners and employees outside establishments along the kanwar yatra route. Several other petitions were also filed challenging the directives.
Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra had also filed a petition against the Kanwar Yatra directive.
“The impugned Directives have been issued in a context of a documented rise in hate speech and hate crimes – most specifically, incitement to boycotts – directed against the Muslim community by anti-social elements, which coincide with the time of the annual Kanwar Yatra, and are specifically focused on food and the proprietors and workers of eating establishments,” says the petition filed by Moitra.
“In a climate in which individuals are actively urged to refrain from buying food from Muslim proprietors through the invocation of cultural and religious purity (all of which is a matter of record), the impugned Directives constitute a pretext for the revealing of religious identity through the compelled disclosure of names,” the petition adds.
The court passed the order on July 22 while hearing the petition filed by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights.
Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, questioned the “rational nexus” behind the directives.
Singhvi argued that the situation is worrisome as by issuing these directives, the police have taken upon themselves to create a division and would lead to economic boycott of shop owners, reported LiveLaw.
The first directive was issued by the Muzaffarnagar police.
“It has never been done before. It has no statutory backing. No law gives police commissioners the power to do it. The directives are for every haath-gaadi (hawkers), tea-stalls…Giving of names of employees and owners does not serve any purpose,” Singhvi said in the court, reported LiveLaw.
Singhvi also argued that the Food Safety Standard (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 does not prescribe owners naming their eateries by their names.
“There are a lot of pure vegetarian restaurants run by Hindus but they have Muslim employees. Can I say I will not go there and eat? Because the food is somehow touched by them [Muslim employees]?” Singhvi added.
While hearing the matter, Justice Bhatti shared a personal anecdote about two hotels in Kerala, one run by a Hindu, the other by a Muslim. Justice Bhatti said that he would often visit the vegetarian hotel owned by a Muslim because the person maintained international standards of hygiene.
“Today’s Supreme Court order serves as a clarion call to states, asserting that hate and divisiveness will not triumph over the law and Constitution. It is a resounding affirmation that any actions targeting vulnerable minorities and the poor will be struck down, reinforcing that no authority stands above constitutional justice. This landmark ruling is a decisive blow against the politics of hatred and the remnants of colonial-era policing, reaffirming that true governance is rooted in equality and justice for all,” said Nadeem Khan, National Secretary of Association for Protection of Civil Rights.
Hindu pilgrims undertake the kanwar yatra around this time of year, travelling by foot to Uttarakhand, to collect water from the Ganga river. They then offer the water in Shiva temples. This year’s yatra will begin on Monday (July 22).
District authorities in Muzaffarnagar, followed by Saharanpur and Shamli, had ordered shopkeepers along the pilgrims’ route to display the names of the shop’s owners and its employees. The Muzaffarnagar police had claimed that this was being done to avoid confusion among kanwariyas.
After widespread criticism of this directive, the UP government on Friday (July 19) made it mandatory for all shops along the yatra’s route, across the state, to comply with the directive. Neighbouring Haridwar district authorities in Uttarakhand too have given such orders.
The move has drawn flak from most quarters, including senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as well as BJP allies like Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Lok Dal. Congress called it an assault on shared Indian culture with party leader Priyanka Gandhi calling it a “crime against the Constitution”.