SC refuses to examine order mandating eateries along Kanwar Yatra route to display owner’s identity

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to examine the legality of the directives issued by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments requiring eateries along the Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage route to display quick response codes with their owners’ identities, Live Law reported.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh disposed of the interlocutory applications filed against the directives. It reiterated that the eateries must display their licences and registration certificates as required by law.

“We are told that today is the last day of the yatra,” Live Law quoted the bench as saying on Tuesday. “In any case it is likely to come to an end in the near future. Therefore, at this stage, we would only pass an order that all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and the registration certificate as per the statutory requirements.”

During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees, called Kanwariyas, walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from the Ganga near Haridwar and carry it back to their home states to offer at temples.

The devotees mainly come from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.

This year’s Kanwar Yatra started on July 11.

The applications in the court were moved in the writ petitions filed in 2024 against directions to display the names of owners and staff,...

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