Supreme Court Seeks Answers on QR Code Mandate for Kanwar Yatra

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand state governments regarding a plea challenging the requirement for shopkeepers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes. These codes, when scanned, reveal the shop owner's identity. Uttar Pradesh had initiated this order earlier this year, which was subsequently adopted by Uttarakhand.

The plea contends that the mandate infringes on the fundamental rights of citizens by facilitating discriminatory profiling. It also references a previous stay by the Supreme Court on a similar mandate issued by Uttar Pradesh last year. The petition urges the court to demand an explanation from the authorities on how this directive does not violate constitutional protections, including the interim stay previously ordered.

The petition also suggests limiting mandates to conventional licensing requirements and eliminating ambiguous directives that necessitate the disclosure of vendor identities. Post-submission, the court scheduled the continuation of the hearing to next week. Meanwhile, in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, local police arrested two Kanwariyas following a violent incident involving vandalism after a dispute with a shopkeeper, according to Superintendent Pankaj Gairola.