SC refuses to stay UP, Uttarakhand QR code order for eateries on Kanwar Yatra route

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all dhaba and restaurant owners along the Kanwar Yatra route to comply with the Uttar Pradesh government’s mandate requiring display of statutory licence and registration certificates.

“At this stage, all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of the license and registration certificate as required statutorily. We make it clear that we’re not going into the issues being argued. The application stands closed,” the court said, as quoted by ANI.

Earlier this year, the Uttar Pradesh government issued an order asking eateries along the pilgrimage route to display QR codes containing ownership details. The Uttarakhand government soon followed with a similar directive.

A petition filed by academic Apoorvanand Jha and others challenged the move, arguing that such mandates enable “discriminatory profiling” of vendors, particularly those from minority communities. “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 court,” the petition stated.

The plea also said that “vague and overbroad directives” blur the line between standard licensing and indirect religious profiling, potentially enabling violent enforcement by vigilante groups or local authorities.

The petitioners urged the court to limit the requirements to standard licensing and drop directives that require identity disclosures.

In July 2023, the apex court had restrained the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments from enforcing similar directives that compelled vendors to display names of owners and staff. It ruled that food sellers only need to display the type of food they serve.

In that ruling, the court said, “We deem it appropriate to pass interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the impugned directives. In other words, the food sellers (including dhaba owners, restaurants, food and vegetable sellers, hawkers, etc.) may be required to display the kind of food that they are serving to the kanwariyas. But they must not be forced to display the name/identity of the owners and the employees deployed in their respective establishments.”