New Delhi: Defending the controversial name display directive of state police, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that the ‘the idea behind’ such an order was to ensure ‘transparency and informed choice of the consumer/Kanwariya regarding the food they eat during the period of the Yatra…’
The order was passed ‘keeping in mind their (Kanwariyas) religious sentiments so that they don’t, even accidentally, fall foul of their beliefs,” the Uttar Pradesh government before the apex court.
“Such situations would obviously lead to flare ups where lakhs and crores of people are walking barefoot carrying holy water,” a part of the affidavit read.
In its affidavit, the UP government emphasized that “Kanwariyas follow a strict vegetarian, satvik diet, eschewing onion, garlic and all other tamasic foods” during the yatra. It also claimed that “satvik food does not just mean the preparation of food without onions and garlic, but is also the manner of preparation of the food, similar to falhar during other festivals…”
Earlier, the state police has asked eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of the owners and staff. The move drew widespread criticism from various political parties, including NDA-ally, the Janata Dal (JDU).
Supreme Court extends stay on order till August 5
The Supreme Court on Friday (July 26) further extended the stay order on the controversial directive till August 5, the next hearing date. The stay order was extended by a bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, who were hearing the petitions filed by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Professor Apoorvanand and columnist Aakar Patel against the directives of the UP and Uttarakhand governments. Similar diktat was also issued in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Earlier, the apex court had ordered an interim stay of the directives on July 22. Meanwhile, the state government also drew the court’s attention to “Regulation 2.1.1 (5) of the Food and Safety Standards (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses (Regulations), 2011.” It argued that according to the norms it “requires registration of all ‘petty food’ businesses and mandatory disclosure of the photo ID of the owner and Registration Certificate, which sadly is lacking in most dhabas, with some even lacking registration”.
