Kanwar Yatra 2025
The Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand government has got relief from the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In fact, during the Kandar Yatra, the facility of knowing the identity through QR code on dhaba-resurrears will continue for the consumer. The apex court said in the order that Kavad Yatra is at the last stop. All dhaba, restaurant owners will follow the law rules. These orders are Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice N.K. Singh’s bench has narrated.
The Supreme Court while giving the verdict said that the consumer is a king under the rules. The application is settled. He said in the order that we have been told that today is the last day of the journey. However, it is likely to end in the near future, so at this time we will only pass the order that all concerned hotel owners follow the order to display license and registration certificate according to statutory requirements. We clarify that we are not considering other disputed issues.
Government gave this argument in court
Earlier, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of the UP government said that this order was issued keeping in mind all aspects including law and order. Last year, the law and order situation had deteriorated here, when the kanwadis were vandalizing the dhabas due to similar issues, hence the police issued this order. Last year, an interim order was passed without listening to us. I am just following a central law which applies to the whole country, not just on the Kandar Yatra.
What were the allegations against the government in the petition?
The petitioners had demanded a ban on all instructions to make public the identity of dhabas and restaurant owners on the Kandar Yatra routes in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It was argued that these instructions were against the interim order passed by the Supreme Court last year, stating that the dhaba owners could not be forced to reveal their identity.
Petitioners Professor Apoorvanand and activist Size Patel argued that government officials have issued new instructions this year to bypassing the court order, which has made it mandatory to display QR code on all dhabas on the Kandar route, which can be learned by scanning pilgrims and knowing the names of the owners. According to him, this instruction is to promote religious discrimination.
