In an interim order issued on Monday, the Supreme Court of India has put on hold the Uttar Pradesh government’s directive requiring shop owners along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display their names. The court clarified that the shops need only indicate the type of food they serve, relieving owners of the need to display their names.
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti issued notices to the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, which had implemented the ‘nameplate order’. This directive had been challenged by the NGO, Association of Protection of Civil Rights, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Singhvi argued that the order lacked legal authority and was a disguised attempt to enforce identity-based exclusions. He emphasized that such directives could economically devastate small tea stalls and fruit shops along the routes. “The idea of this directive is exclusion by identity. This is not the republic we envisaged in the Constitution,” Singhvi stated.
Advocate CU Singh, representing the NGO, further argued that the order had no statutory backing and served no practical purpose. He highlighted that this type of directive had never been implemented before and that it lacked legal support to mandate such disclosures.
The Muzaffarnagar Police’s initial directive, which was later expanded statewide by the Uttar Pradesh government, sparked backlash from opposition parties and even some NDA allies, who condemned the order as “communal and divisive.” The BJP, however, defended the move as necessary for maintaining law and order and respecting the religious sentiments of pilgrims.
The Supreme Court’s interim order thus pauses the contentious directive, pending further review
