Kanwar Yatra Row / Vegetarians should know the address of the shop, SC comments on name plate dispute

Kanwar Yatra Row: Hearing is going on in the Supreme Court on the decision to put 'name plate' on Kanwar route in Uttar Pradesh. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti is hearing the case. The petitioners' lawyer has started arguing. The petitioner's lawyer said that this is a worrying situation. Police officers are creating division. Minorities are being identified and economically boycotted. Petitioner's lawyer CU Singh argued that the government's order is like dividing the society. It is like identifying minority shopkeepers and economically boycotting them. Among these, UP and Uttarakhand are doing this.

The Supreme Court asked - Was this a press statement or an order? The petitioner's lawyer said that first a press statement came. Then there was public outrage. The state government says "voluntarily", but they are strictly implementing it. The petitioner's lawyer said that this has never been done before. It has no statutory support. No law gives the Police Commissioner the right to do this. The instructions are for every hand-cart, hawker, tea-stall. No purpose is served by disclosing the names of the employees and owners.

Vegetarians will be cheated- SC

Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the order is being implemented forcibly in the name of voluntary choice. The Supreme Court said that if someone is a vegetarian, then will he be cheated if he does not know what kind of shop he is eating in?

Do not exaggerate the matter- SC

Justice Bhatti told the petitioner's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi that you should not exaggerate this matter. Tell it as it is on the ground. There are three aspects of this matter - security, standards and secularism. All three are equally important. The court asked whether the order to write names on hotels and dhabas is a government order or a press release? To which Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that my lord, this is a pseudo order.

SC judge told his experience

The Supreme Court judge told his personal experience that there was a vegetarian hotel in Kerala and later it was revealed that it was owned by a Muslim. Petitioner's lawyer CU CU Singh said that the UP administration is pressurizing shopkeepers to write their names and mobile numbers. This is not limited to Dhaba only, pressure is also being put on street vendors so that a particular community can be economically boycotted.

This order is voluntary, it is not mandatory - SC

The Supreme Court said that this order is voluntary, it is not mandatory. Lawyer CU Singh said that Haridwar Police has implemented it. There, the police warned that if this is not done then action will be taken. Such action has also been talked about in Madhya Pradesh. The lawyer said, I am reading from the press release. It is written in it that in the past, Kanwar pilgrims were fed wrong things, so it is being made mandatory to write the name of the seller. You can write vegetarian, pure vegetarian, Jain food, but why is it necessary to write the name of the seller? On this, the judge said that it is written voluntary.

On this, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the lawyer of the second petitioner Mahua Moitra, said, this is not voluntary, but compulsory. Lawyer CU Singh said, the police has no legal right to do this. See the order of Haridwar Police, strict action has been talked about. This is a road of thousands of kilometers. People's livelihood is being affected.

The order is like economic death for the vendors - Singhvi

Singhvi said, it has been made mandatory to write the name of the shopkeeper and the staff. This is Exclusion by Identity. If you do not write the name, the business will be closed, if you write it, the sale will end. The petitioner said that this is like economic death for the vendors. At the same time, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the lawyer appearing on behalf of Mahua Moitra, said that in this the vendors need a big board, in which all the information will have to be shared. If it was pure vegetarian, then it would have been understandable.

Has the government passed any formal order?

The Supreme Court asked whether the government has passed any formal order in this regard? Singhvi said that the government has been implementing it indirectly. The Police Commissioner is issuing such instructions. The Supreme Court said that there are three dimensions - security, standards and secularism and all three are equally important. This was said by Justice SVN Bhatti. Singhvi said that first Meerut Police and then Muzaffarnagar Police issued notices. Singhvi said that the Kavad Yatra has been going on for centuries. Earlier there was no talk of this aspect. The Supreme Court said that you should not tell us the situation in such a way that it becomes more than the ground reality.

This step is better for security and law and order - SC

The Supreme Court indicated that there is no flaw in the order of UP. The Supreme Court asked whether the Kanwariyas also expect that the food should be cooked by the owner of a particular class? The Supreme Court said that this step is better for security and law and order. You are deriving different meanings.

Muzaffarnagar police very cleverly wrote the word voluntary - Singhvi

Singhvi, referring to the instructions of Muzaffarnagar police, said that they very cleverly wrote the word voluntary. At the same time, CU Singh said that reports have revealed that the Municipal Corporation has instructed that a fine of two thousand rupees and five thousand rupees will be imposed. Singhvi said that there are many pure vegetarian restaurants run by Hindus but there may be Muslim employees in them. Can anyone say that I will not go there and eat food because those people have a hand in that food in some way or the other?

Do Kanwariyas want food from a selected shopkeeper?

The Supreme Court said that do Kanwariyas think that they should get food from a selected shopkeeper? Singhvi said that Kanwariyas are not doing the Yatra for the first time, they have been doing it since before. Justice SVN Bhatti cited personal experience. He said that I had gone to a Muslim hotel. The standards of safety, standards and hygiene in it were of international level. There was cleanliness there so I went there. It is completely a matter of your choice. Singhvi said that there are only two conditions in the Food Safety Act, in which only calories and vegetarian or non-vegetarian food have to be displayed. Justice Bhatti said that the license will also have to be displayed.

UP government's decision has been challenged in the petition

The decision of the Uttar Pradesh government has been challenged in the petition. Along with this, a demand has also been made to cancel this order of the government. NGO 'Association of Protection of Civil Rights' has filed this petition in the apex court. The NGO has made UP government, DGP, SSP Muzaffarnagar parties in this petition. Apart from this, Uttarakhand government has also been made a party in the petition. On the lines of Uttar Pradesh, Haridwar SSP in Uttarakhand has issued such instructions.

Apart from NGO, these people have also filed a petition

Apart from NGO, Professor Apoorvanand and Aakar Patel have filed a petition in the Supreme Court. The petition challenges the decision of the UP and Uttarakhand governments to write the names of shopkeepers on the Kanwar Yatra routes. TMC MP Mahua Moitra has also approached the Supreme Court against the order of the UP and Uttarakhand governments. However, in this entire matter, the government says that it has taken this decision to maintain the sanctity of the faith of the Kanwar pilgrims.

This order was pronounced in UP on Thursday

The Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh had issued a big order on Thursday regarding the Kanwar Yatra. The Yogi government had ordered to put name plates on all the shops on the Kanwar route. It was said in the order that 'nameplates' will have to be put on the food shops on the Kanwar routes. It will be mandatory to write the name and address of the owner on the shops. Actually, this order was first issued for Muzaffarnagar, but on Thursday CM Yogi implemented it for the entire state. After this there was a ruckus on this issue.

Along with the opposition, the allies also opposed the decision

Along with the opposition, the allies of the government have also questioned this decision. JDU, RLD have opposed this decision of the Yogi government. RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary has said that the government has not taken this decision thoughtfully. At the same time, JDU says that there should not be any kind of discrimination on the basis of religion and caste. In such a situation, whether the order of name plate on the Kanwar route will remain or be removed, everyone's eyes are fixed on the Supreme Court hearing.