Kanwar Yatra: Plea in Supreme Court Challenges UP Government’s QR Code Mandate for Eateries: New Delhi, India – An application has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging a directive by the Uttar Pradesh government that mandates the display of QR codes at eateries along the route of the Kanwar Yatra. These QR codes, when scanned, are designed to reveal the names of the shop owners, a measure that petitioners argue constitutes discriminatory profiling previously stayed by the apex court.
The application, filed by Delhi University Professor Apoorvanand Jha and activist Aakar Patel, contends that these new directives effectively achieve the same unconstitutional profiling that the Supreme Court had previously stayed through an order passed in July last year. That earlier stay order was issued on a batch of petitions raising concerns that the State’s measures were aimed at revealing the religious identity of shop-owners of such establishments, potentially enabling discrimination against Muslim shop owners.
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The applicants recount that the Supreme Court had stayed such directives on July 22, 2024, with this stay order subsequently extended on July 26, 2024. However, it is now alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government and local authorities are attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court’s stay orders by reintroducing similar directives in a modified form through these mandatory QR codes at all eateries.
“News reports confirm that all eateries on the Kanwar route are required to display QR codes that allow ‘customers to access ownership details.’ These steps effectively serve the same unconstitutional end through digital means, in wilful disobedience of this Hon’ble Court’s directions,” the plea states, highlighting the alleged circumvention of judicial directives.
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Kanwad Yatra.
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The applicants have urged the apex court to intervene immediately by staying the implementation of what they term a “communal profiling” measure, which they argue specifically targets shopkeepers from minority religious communities.
Citing various press reports, the applicants further allege a disturbing pattern of coercion on the ground. They point to accounts of shopkeepers being subjected to intrusive identification verification, including being asked to “remove their pants” to check for circumcision and being forced to undergo Aadhaar checks. These actions, occurring amidst the ongoing 2025 Kanwar Yatra, are submitted by the applicants as not only undermining the Court’s prior stay but also threatening the fundamental rights and dignity of citizens.
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It is additionally argued that the Uttar Pradesh government’s directives blur the line between legitimate licensing requirements and an unlawful demand to display one’s religious identity. “That vague and overbroad directives deliberately mix up the licensing requirements with the other unlawful demand to display religious identity, and leave scope for violent enforcement of such a manifestly arbitrary demand both by vigilante groups and by authorities on the ground.
There is grave and imminent risk of irreparable injury to the fundamental rights of affected vendors, particularly from minority communities, unless this Hon’ble Court issues immediate directions to restrain Respondents from continuing this indirect implementation,” the application reads, emphasizing the potential for severe harm.
The application has been filed through advocate Akriti Chaubey and is likely to be heard by a Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N.K. Singh next week.
Case Title: Apoorvanand Jha & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.
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