Kanwar Yatra: Unaware of SC stay, eatery owners rush to display names
The court held that food vendors and hawkers must not be forced to disclose their names but they may be asked to show the kind of food being served
It is for the first time in 15 years of his business of hawking tender coconuts that Mohammad Tariq had to put up a banner on his temporary cart near Morta in Ghaziabad. He said police have asked him and others repeatedly to do so before the start of annual Kanwar Yatra on July 22.
Tariq’s temporary stall is located on one side of the Delhi-Meerut Road which will now witness a heavy flow of pilgrims, known as Kanwariyas. The pilgrims will fetch Ganga water from Haridwar and a majority of them will return on foot to their respective home towns via the Delhi-Meerut Road.
“It has been 15 years since I started selling tender coconut water here. This is the first time that police have asked me and others to display our names and also the rate-list of items on a display board. I cannot say what purpose it serves. About 80% of my customers are our Hindu brothers. They never ask my name or identity, they simply come for the tender coconut water,” Tariq said.
On the day Tariq put up the board as directed, the Supreme Court took a serious view of the matter on Monday and issued an interim stay on directives from the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments, which mandated eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to prominently display the names of their owners.
The court held that food vendors and hawkers must not be forced to disclose their names but they may be asked to show the kind of food being served.
The Delhi-Meerut Road passes through Ghaziabad up to Meerut and also serves as a lifeline for commuters travelling to western Uttar Pradesh, Haridwar and other cities in Uttarakhand.
Many street vendors, Dhaba and restaurant owners on the Delhi-Meerut Road have started to ”comply” with the ”verbal instructions” issued by the Ghaziabad police.
“I operate a dhaba adjacent to Delhi-Meerut Road it is “shudh shakahari (pure vegetarian)”. Initially, policemen came and then several darogas (sub-inspectors/inspectors) came with the instructions to put up my name, phone number on board, that also mentions “vegetarian food is served”. I’m operating for four years now, but this is being done for the first time during Kanwar Yatra. Everyone is putting up similar posters, banners and boards. I don’t know what purpose this will serve,” said Shiv Kumar Gupta, dhaba owner.
The vendors said the instructions by the police were verbal and not in writing.
Another street vendor, Ravi Chauhan, said he put up a banner indicating in big letters the name of his son, “Aditya Chauhan, shudh shakahari chole kulche (Aditya Chauhan, serving pure vegetarian chole-kulche)”.
“I was asked to put up a banner displaying my name. The police asked this last year too. They asked to put up my name and rate list so that there are no issues during Kanwar Yatra,” said Chauhan.
The officials of the Ghaziabad police said they did not roll out any such order.
“There have been no directions for any vendor, and there are no such written orders from our side. In our order issued under provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), we have simply mentioned that those covered under the Food Safety and Standards Act should comply with the provisions of the Act,” said Dinesh Kumar P, additional commissioner of police.
Other senior officials of the Ghaziabad police said only the dhaba/restaurant owners were asked to put up rate lists as per provisions of the Food Safety Act and such instructions were not meant for any street vendor or roadside cart owners.
The Ghaziabad police rolled out orders under section 163 (Power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the BNSS.
The order has several instructions to be followed and will be in force from July 22 to August 19. One of the conditions of the order also state that all meat shops on Kanwar Yatra route will remain shut during the period.