Singhvi’s argument due to which Supreme Court stayed CM Yogi’s order

New Delhi : The Supreme Court has put an interim stay on the directive of the UP and Uttarakhand governments in which the state governments had asked shopkeepers to display their names on the route of the Kanwar Yatra. During the Kanwar Yatra, the UP and Uttarakhand governments had issued instructions that shopkeepers selling food items will have to display their names. This decision was challenged by the petitioners in the Supreme Court. In this case, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi presented arguments on behalf of the petitioner.

Answer sought from UP, Uttarakhand government

The bench of Supreme Court Justice Rishikesh Rai and Justice SVN Bhati has stayed the said directive of the state governments in an interim order and has issued notice to them (UP, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh) and asked them to file a reply. However, the Supreme Court has clarified that the food items should display what kind of food items are being sold. The Supreme Court said that it would be appropriate to put an interim stay on the said directive. That is, the seller of food items can now only display the food items but they will not need to reveal their names.

I used to go to a vegetarian hotel owned by Muslims… Justice Bhatti during the hearing on the Kanwar Yatra name plate dispute

Arguments of Abhishek Manu Singhvi

• There is a deliberate intention behind this directive and it is worsening the situation.
• The intention is to expose the identity of the shop owners so that they can be boycotted financially.
• This instruction will affect other states only.
• This statement came through the press but the authorities have strictly enforced it. This has never happened before.
• No law gives the Police Commissioner the power to pass such an order.
• There is no justification for displaying the name of the shop owner and the name of his/her servant.

Do we go to a restaurant to eat or to see the owner’s name… What were the arguments in the Supreme Court in the Kanwar Yatra name plate case?
The petitioners had said in their petition that the instructions issued by the state government in this matter create religious discrimination. During the hearing, the Supreme Court has put an interim stay on the said instructions. In this case, Professor Apoorvanand and other petitioners have filed an application challenging the order of the concerned state authority. The Supreme Court has said that it will be its priority to ensure that Kanwadis get food with standard hygiene.

This broader issue is about identity

Singhvi said that this is a deceptive order. When the bench asked if there is any penalty for violating this order, Singhvi said that a fine has been imposed. This is a broad issue because it is related to identity. Kanwar Yatra has been taking place in the country for decades. The court will have to see that people are also from Muslim, Christian and Buddhist religions. All these people are engaged in service during the Kanwar Yatra. As far as vegetarian and non-veg are concerned, there is a law for this and non-veg is prohibited during this time. Many pure vegetarian restaurants are run by Hindus in which Muslim people work. Can we say that we will not eat because Muslim workers have touched the food?

Why is CM Yogi getting the shops on the Kanwar route ‘named’ in entire UP? Political uproar in the entire country
During this, Justice Bhati narrated a unique story. he/she said that when he/she was in Kerala, there was a hotel of Hindus as well as Muslims. But he/she would often go to the Muslim hotel to eat vegetarian food because it maintained hygiene of foreign standards.