Kanwar Yatra eateries row: Supreme Court pauses UP, Uttarakhand order to display the name of the owner

The Supreme Court on Monday issued an interim order halting the guidelines that required shopkeepers along Kanwar Yatra routes in Uttar Pradesh to display their names. The court stated that owners should only indicate the type of food served in their eateries.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti issued a notice to the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh regarding the 'nameplate order.' The bench was hearing a plea from the NGO, Association of Protection of Civil Rights, which challenged the Uttar Pradesh government's order.

During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the order was issued without any legal authority and described it as a "camouflage."

"It is a camouflaged order for Kanwar Yatra. Violators will be fined if they do not show their names. We are talking about thousands of kilometres. The bulk of these shops are tea stalls and some belong to fruit shop owners. This is economic death," he said.

"The larger issue is much more important. You go to a restaurant depending on the menu, not who is serving. The idea of this directive is exclusion by identity. This is not the republic we envisaged in the Constitution," he added.

Singhvi stated that these yatras have been taking place for decades, with people of all religions assisting the Kanwariyas during their journey.

"It's about identity inclusion. The order was issued without any authority of law. What can be the rationale behind this nexus between aims and objects of giving a name and eating at restaurants?" he said.

Advocate CU Singh, representing the NGO, argued that the order lacked legal authority and served no meaningful purpose.

"It has never been done before. It has no statutory backing. No law gives the Police Commissioner the power to do it. The directive on every tea stalls and other roadside shops giving names of employees and owners does not serve any purpose," he said.

Last week, the Muzaffarnagar Police instructed all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of their owners. This directive was later extended statewide by the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government. The governments of Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh adopted similar measures.

The decision faced criticism from the Opposition and some NDA allies, including JD(U) and RLD.

The Opposition criticized the order on eateries, calling it "communal and divisive" and accusing it of targeting Muslims and Scheduled Castes (SCs) by forcing them to reveal their identity. However, the BJP, which governs Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, defended the move, stating it was aimed at addressing law and order concerns and respecting the religious sentiments of pilgrims.