UP's Kanwar Yatra nameplate diktat paused by Supreme Court in interim order

The Supreme Court on Monday issued an interim order, putting on hold guidelines that asked shopkeepers in Uttar Pradesh along Kanwar Yatra routes to display their names. The court said that owners would only display the kind of food served in their eateries.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti issued notice to the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh that issued the 'nameplate order'. The bench was hearing a plea filed by an NGO, the Association of Protection of Civil Rights, challenging the Uttar Pradesh government's order.

During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the order was issued without any authority of law and called it "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 said that yatras have been happening for decades and people of all religions were helping Kanwariyas during their yatra.

"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.CU Singh, an advocate appearing for the NGO, said the order had no statutory backing and that it did not serve any 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 directed all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners' names. Later, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government extended the order across the state. The Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh governments also followed suit.

The move invited a backlash, not only from the Opposition but also from some of the NDA allies, including JD(U) and RLD.

The Opposition alleged that the order on eateries is "communal and divisive" and intended to target Muslims and Scheduled Castes (SCs) by forcing them to reveal their identity. However, the BJP, which is in power in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, maintained that the step was taken keeping in mind law and order issues and the religious sentiments of pilgrims.