Plea filed in SC against U.P. govt’s QR code directive for eateries along ‘kanwar’ route

The Supreme Court will hear a plea on July 15 challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s directive mandating the display of QR codes on all eateries along the ‘kanwar’ route, which reveal the names and identities of the owners.

A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh is set to hear the PIL filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha and others.

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The top court had last year stayed similar directives issued by BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of their owners, staff and other details.

Referring to a press release issued by the U.P. administration on June 25, Mr. Jha, said, “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 said the U.P. government’s directive asking stall owners to reveal religious and caste identities under “lawful license requirements” breaches the right to privacy of the shop, dhaba, and restaurant owners.

A large number of devotees travel from various places with ‘kanwars’ carrying holy water from the Ganga to perform ‘jalabhishek’ of Shivlings during the Hindu calendar month of ‘Shravan’.

Many believers shun consumption of meat during the month. Many don’t even consume meals containing onions and garlic.