The Supreme Court on Monday issued an interim stay on the recent orders by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments, which required eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to publicly display the names of their owners. The directive had stirred concerns about exacerbating communal tensions during the religious pilgrimage.
During the proceedings, a bench consisting of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V.N. Bhatti raised inquiries about the legitimacy and formulation of the said orders. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who filed a petition against the state directives, was represented by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi.
Singhvi argued that the orders were a form of “exclusion by identity” and breached constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination. He questioned whether the states had issued any formal mandates. “Has any formal order been passed by the state governments, or is this a camouflaged attempt to target certain communities?” he posited during the session.
