Plea in SC against BJP-ruled states' name-display order for eateries

New Delhi: In the matter of directives issued by BJP-ruled states Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, demanding restaurants and dhabas to display the owner’s names in the route of Kanwar Yatra, Delhi University professor Apoorvanand and rights defender Aakar Patel has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay, The Wire reported.

As per the state government’s directive, the shop owners have to display QR codes that reveal their names, and the petition contended that this amounts to discriminatory profiling, which was already stayed by the top court.

Reports suggest that the petition is expected to be heard by a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh on July 15.

As per the petition, Apoorvanand contended that the orders of the two state governments were violative of several constitutional provisions, as well as an earlier order of the Supreme Court, passed in July 2024. The top court had granted an interim stay on the enforcement of such directives after observing that the display of personal identity was neither backed by law nor necessary for the stated purpose of public order or food safety compliance.

The petition further pointed out that an earlier order by the SC had mandated that state actions impacting privacy and dignity must satisfy the test of legitimate aim, suitability, necessity and proportionality. The directives of the two state governments fail all these principles, the petition argued. The directives also do not fall under any statute and are discriminatory and stigmatizing.

The petitioners in the 2024 case also were Apoorvanand and Patel, along with Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.