Petition filed in SC against UP's QR code directive for Kanwar Yatra vendors

Hindustan Times

a day ago

The Supreme Court will hear a plea on Tuesday challenging Uttar Pradesh's directive mandating QR codes and owner identities at Kanwar Yatra food stalls. Ahead of the Kanwar Yatra starting July 11, UP mandated food stalls to display QR-code licences and complaint info to boost hygiene and food safety on the route. (Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)
The petition, filed by Apoorvanand Jha earlier this week, argued that the directive violates the top court's July 2024 interim order that stayed similar measures on the grounds that they were not legally mandated and could lead to discriminatory profiling. A bench headed by justice MM Sundresh is set to hear the matter on July 15.
Ahead of the annual Kanwar Yatra, which began on July 11, the state government had introduced a new digital measure to strengthen food safety — all food vendors along the pilgrimage route will be required to display QR-code-based licences and complaint details. These QR codes, linked to the Food Safety Connect App, will allow pilgrims to instantly verify hygiene approvals and report unsafe practices.
Citing a press release issued by the UP administration on June 25, Jha, one of the petitioners who had approached the court last year, 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 top court had issued an interim stay on the enforcement of such directives on July 22, 2024, observing that the display of personal identity was neither backed by law nor necessary under food safety compliance. The court had clarified that no food stall owner can be forced to display their identity and that it will be open for persons to do so voluntarily.
Advocate Akriti Chaubey, who filed Jha's application, said, 'Despite the above orders, it is now apparent that the state of Uttar Pradesh and other authorities are circumventing the stay by reintroducing the same directive stating that, as in the previous year, the name of the operator should be clearly displayed at each shop under the garb of public safety and maintenance of law and order.'
Also Read: UP govt mandates QR licences for food vendors during Kanwar Yatra
The application said that the state 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. It said that the licence certificate displayed in the shop reveals the name of the owner and can be easily accessed.
Such 'vague and overbroad' directives to display religious identity give scope for violent enforcement of such a manifestly arbitrary demand both by vigilante groups and by authorities on the ground, the application added.
The application, raising concerns about the risk to the fundamental rights of shop owners, has sought an immediate stay on the state's directive when the matter comes up for hearing on Tuesday.
Also Read: Vendors on Kanwar Yatra route: Authorities talk of going soft, but compliance begins on ground
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand last year had directed all shopkeepers selling food items on the Kanwar Yatra route to display names of owners and the employees at a prominent place outside the shop, dhaba, or restaurant. Besides Jha, other petitioners who challenged the directive include Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra and the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
The states last year had defended their decision requiring shop owners and their employees to disclose their identities, citing regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which mandate food businesses to display such details.
The UP government in an affidavit filed last year said that the idea behind the directive is transparency and informed choice of the Kanwariyas regarding the food they eat, keeping in mind their religious sentiments.
Denying any discrimination on religious or community lines, the state affidavit added, 'The temporary nature of the directives ensures that they do not inflict any permanent discrimination or hardship on the food sellers, simultaneously ensuring maintaining the sentiments of Kanwariyas and their religious beliefs and practices. The directive applies to a limited geographical extent to all eatery owners, regardless of their religious or community affiliations.'