The Supreme Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on the controversial Kanwar Yatra directives in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand related to eateries, prompting the Opposition parties to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restrain Bharatiya Janata Party chief ministers from taking "unconstitutional" decisions.
The apex court ordered an interim stay on the directives by the two BJP-ruled states asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of their owners, the staff and other details. The Opposition claimed that the move was intended to promote religious discrimination.
Issuing notice to the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, where the Ujjain municipal body has issued a similar directive, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, however, said eateries may be required to display the kind of food they are serving like they are vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
The Congress welcomed the top court's order and said the party hopes Prime Minister Modi makes BJP chief ministers aware of their "raj dharma".
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas including those by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, academician Apoorvanand Jha, columnist Aakar Patel, and NGO Association of Protection of Civil Rights challenging the directives.
"We deem it appropriate to pass interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the above directives. In other words, food sellers may be required to display kind of food, but must not be forced to display names of owners, staff employed," the bench said and posted the matter for further hearing on Friday.
No one appeared for the state governments in the apex court on Monday.
At the outset, the bench asked senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Moitra, if any formal order has been passed in the matter.
Singhvi said a "camouflaged" order has been passed to display names of owners of eateries. He asserted the order passed by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments is "exclusion by identity" and against the Constitution.
The apex court's order comes amid an escalating row over the directives, with even BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal joining the chorus for their withdrawal and the opposition parties resolving to raise the issue in Parliament.
TMC MP Moitra called the two governments' decision "unconstitutional".
"We have just got a stay on the completely illegal and unconstitutional Kanwar Yatra order which UP had started... Muzaffarnagar police, and then extended it to the whole of UP and parts of Uttarakhand," Moitra told PTI.
"...It is a great victory for the Constitution, and for all people of India," she added.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the directive by the BJP-ruled states was "unconstitutional".
"We are very happy that the Supreme Court has given such a strong order and we hope that the prime minister makes his chief ministers aware of their 'raj dharma (solemn duty)'. Unfortunately, he is the same PM, who when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee asked him to follow 'raj dharma' but he defied Atal ji," Khera said in a video statement.
"We hope his CMs don't defy him. Although the prime minister's position in his party is considerably weakened, we hope he retrieves that position and asserts himself and stops his chief ministers from indulging in such unconstitutional measures," he said.
The Opposition has alleged that the directives were "communal and divisive" and intended to target Muslims and Scheduled Castes by forcing them to reveal their identity, but the BJP maintained that the step has been taken keeping in mind law and order issues and the religious sentiments of pilgrims.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the directive for eateries, as well as the Centre's decision to allow government servants to participate in RSS activities, indicate the BJP's desperation.
He said the politics of communalism is in its last throes that is why such decisions are being taken.
"They will take more such steps. They are doing this to keep communal politics alive as it is nearing its end... Communal politics has been rejected by people, and just as a lamp flickers before it goes off, they (BJP) are flickering before going out. That is why such decisions are being taken," he said.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said the directive by UP and Uttarakhand was similar to the Nazi regime ordering Jews to display the Star of David.
"Today it is the names, tomorrow they will say put your caste. It will only lead to further and further discrimination," he said.
"It is exactly what Nazis did, by asking the Jews to put up Star of David so that they could be othered and social boycott could happen," he said.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut said, "I welcome the Supreme Court decision from the depth of my heart. They have protected the Constitution."
The AAP thanked the Supreme Court for imposing an interim stay on the "anti-Dalit" directives by the UP and Uttarakhand governments.
"BJP is an anti-Dalit party. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, one of the objectives of the BJP was to end reservation... Dalits across the country voted against the BJP. To take their revenge against Dalits, the BJP governments are giving such orders," Delhi minister Atishi told a press conference here.
Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) MP Chandrashekhar said people want to talk about their issues of livelihood, and will not accept the "experiment" happening in the name of the 'Kanwar Yatra'.
Meanwhile, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has clarified that it has not issued any instructions requiring shop owners to display their names along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state, and there is no such compulsion.
The MP government has asked urban bodies to refrain from spreading any confusion, days after the Ujjain mayor claimed shop owners had been directed to display their names and phone numbers on boards.
Justice SVN Bhatti, while sharing his experience when he was with Justice Hrishikesh Roy on the bench that stayed the Kanwar Yatra directives, said he used to frequent a Muslim-run vegetarian restaurant while posted in Kerala as it maintained international standards.
"...Without disclosing the name of the city, there is a vegetarian hotel run by a Hindu. There is another vegetarian hotel run by a Muslim.
"As a judge of that state, I was going to the hotel run by a Muslim for vegetarian food. When it comes to food standard and safety, he was displaying everything. He had returned from Dubai. He was maintaining international standards with regard to safety, cleanliness and hygiene. So it was my choice to go to that hotel," Justice Bhatti said.
Senior advocate Singhvi said, "You chose by menu card and not name."
He asserted the directives lack any constitutional or legal backing and infringe upon the secular character of the country.
Meanwhile, devotees from various places on Monday started their travel with 'kanwars' carrying holy water from the Ganga to perform 'jalabhishek' of shivlings during the Hindu calendar month of 'Shravan'. Many believers shun consuming meat during the holy month.
On the first Monday of the auspicious month, devotees also offered prayers to Lord Shiv at various temples across the country.
