The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government over its recent directive that mandates all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes showing the names and identities of their owners. The court was responding to a group of petitions challenging this order.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh heard the matter. The petitions were filed by Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha and activist Aakar Patel, who argued that the rule amounts to religious profiling in digital form. They said this move violates a previous Supreme Court order that prohibited similar practices.

Last year, the court had stopped similar rules introduced by the governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. Those orders required food stall owners to publicly display their names and staff details, which the court said was not acceptable. At that time, the court had made it clear that vendors could not be forced to reveal their personal identity, only the details of food being served if needed.

Jha, one of the petitioners, referred to a press release issued by the UP government on June 25. He said the new QR code rule brings back the same profiling practice that was already banned. He added that asking food vendors to reveal religious or caste details under the pretext of license rules violates their right to privacy.