The Supreme Court issued a directive on Tuesday to all hotel owners situated along the Kanwar Yatra path in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The court ordered them to visibly showcase their valid licences and registration certificates in compliance with legal requirements.
Details of the Directive
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh emphasized that only the display of licences and registration certificates was being focused on currently. They mentioned that since it was the final day of the Kanwar Yatra, other issues like revealing the hotel or dhaba owner’s names and the use of QR codes were not being addressed at the moment.
The bench stated, “At this stage we would only pass an order that all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and the registration certificate as per the statutory requirements.”
Background and Previous Rulings
The court’s decision came after a plea was filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha along with others. Notably, last year, similar directives issued by the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh were stayed by the Supreme Court. These directives had required eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to disclose the names of their owners, staff, and other details.
Referring to a press release by the Uttar Pradesh government on June 25th, Jha pointed out new measures that involved displaying QR codes at eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route. These codes revealed the identities of the owners, raising concerns of discriminatory profiling. The petition raised issues of privacy breaches due to directives asking stall owners to disclose religious and caste identities under the guise of lawful licensing requirements.
Kanwar Yatra Tradition
A significant number of devotees participate in the Kanwar Yatra by traveling from various locations carrying ‘kanwars’ filled with holy water from the Ganga. They engage in rituals like ‘jalabhishek’ of Shivling during the Hindu month of ‘Shravan’.
During this period, many participants abstain from consuming meat, while others avoid meals containing onion and garlic, as per sacred practices.
