‘It is not necessary to write the name of the shopkeeper…’, what did the Supreme Court say on the Kanwar name plate controversy?
The Supreme Court on Monday gave a big blow to the Yogi government. The court has put an interim stay on the implementation of the order to write the names of shopkeepers on the Kanwar route. The court said, shopkeepers should write the type of food. It is not necessary to write your name.
Along with this, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government and the Dhami government of Uttarakhand, apart from Uttar Pradesh, and sought a reply. In these three states, the owners of shops located on the Kanwar route were ordered to write the name. The next hearing in this case will be on July 26.
Why is it necessary to write the name of the seller – petitioner’s question
Earlier during the hearing, the lawyer of the petitioners referred to the order and said that first two states did it. Now two more states are going to take such a decision. Police is taking action instead of the municipality. Minorities and Dalits are being isolated. The lawyer first read the order of Muzaffarnagar Police. On this, Justice Rishikesh Rai asked whether this is an order or a press release.
The lawyer said, I am reading from the press release. It is written in it that in the past, Kanwar pilgrims were fed wrong things, so it is being made mandatory to write the name of the seller. You can write vegetarian, pure vegetarian, Jain food, but why is it necessary to write the name of the seller?
This is not voluntary, it is mandatory – Singhvi
On this, the judge said that it is written voluntary. On this, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the lawyer of the second petitioner Mahua Moitra, said, this is not voluntary, it is mandatory. Lawyer CU Singh said, the police has no legal right to do this. See the order of Haridwar Police, strict action has been talked about. This is a route of thousands of kilometers. People’s livelihood is being affected.
Do not exaggerate the matter – Supreme Court
On this, Singhvi said, it has been made mandatory to write the name of the shopkeeper and the staff. This is exclusion by identity. If you do not write the name, the business will stop, if you write it, the sale will end. On this, Justice Bhatti said, the matter should not be exaggerated. Before the order, the safety of the pilgrims must also have been taken into consideration.
Don’t some people insist on Halal – SC
Singhvi said, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists all have been helping these pilgrims. You can insist on writing pure vegetarian. Not on the name of the shopkeeper. He said, there is an attempt of economic boycott. Untouchability is also being promoted. Justice Bhatti said, don’t some people who eat non-vegetarian also insist on Halal meat? CU Singh said, see, in Ujjain also the administration has issued such instructions for shopkeepers.
Justice Rai said, can Kanwadias also expect that the food should be of a shopkeeper of a particular community, the grain should be produced by a particular community? On this, Singhvi said, this is our argument.
Justice Bhatti said – I like to go to Muslim restaurants
Justice Bhatti said, there are 2 famous vegetarian restaurants in a city of Kerala. One of Hindu and one of Muslim. I personally liked to go to the Muslim restaurant because cleanliness was more visible there. On this, Singhvi said, the Food Safety Act also only talks about writing vegetarian-non-vegetarian and calories. Not about writing the name of the owner of the manufacturing company. Singhvi said, the Kanwar Yatra will end on August 6. Therefore, it is wrong to continue these orders for even a single day.
The judge said, we heard all the senior lawyers on behalf of the petitioners. They have challenged the Muzaffarnagar Police’s directive of July 17. They have also opposed the police action that followed. The judge said, this directive has led to controversy. We saw the directive issued in Hindi and its English translation. It is written in it that Kanwariyas who bring Gangajal in the holy month of Sawan want to stay away from certain types of food. Many people do not even eat onion and garlic. The judge said, shopkeepers have been asked to write their names and those of their employees. The petitioners are calling it discriminatory on religious grounds and promoting untouchability. They say that just writing vegetarian and pure vegetarian is enough.
The judge said, they also said that there is no legal basis for such an order. This harms the secular character of the country, which is part of the Preamble of the Constitution. It was also reported that many employees have been removed from work.
