Opposition parties welcome SC's interim stay on Kanwar eatery order

Several Opposition parties on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision imposing an interim stay on the directives issued by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that stipulated eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display the owners' names outside/on their premises.

The SC's decision was also supported by Janata Dal (United), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Congress and Samajwadi Party also welcomed the SC's intervention. "We welcome the Supreme Court's stay order. This move was against the Constitution, and the Congress party, along with the entire opposition, opposed it. We hope the prime minister ensures that his chief ministers understand their 'raj dharma' and refrain from implementing such unconstitutional measures," said Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav hailed the Supreme Court's directive and said, “I had said the Supreme Court should take the cognizance of this matter and stop such action. The government will continue to take such steps because once communal politics ceases, these people will do this."

“I appreciate this verdict. The Supreme Court has upheld the Constitution. These are the kinds of divisive politics practiced by the ruling BJP,” remarked Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant.

JD(U), a member of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has been critical of the orders issued by the state governments. "I appreciate the Supreme Court's decision. We were concerned that this directive would create divisions in society. The Supreme Court has taken notice of this issue, and I am grateful for it," said K.C. Tyagi, spokesperson for JD(U).

A bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V.N. Bhatti had said, “We deem it appropriate to pass [an] interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the above directives. In other words, the food sellers, hawkers, etc., may be required to display the kind of food they are serving to Kanwariyas but they must not be forced to disclose their names.”

The original directive was passed by the Muzaffarnagar police. Several petitions filed by Association for Protection of Civil Rights professor Apooravanand, head of Amnesty International in India Aakar Patel and Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra challenged the directives.

On 19 July, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government made it mandatory for food and beverage shops along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the name and identity of the operator/owner of their establishments.

The UP government justified this decision as a necessity for 'maintaining law and order'. The Court was informed today that similar directives have been issued in other states.