Consumer is king, says SC on owner details display
A bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh directed hotel owners to display their licence and registration certificate, as required under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, and posted the matter after two weeks for compliance of its order.
'The sentiments of devotees should not be affected. At the same time, the livelihood of shop owners should not be affected too. The court has to strike a balance,' the bench remarked.
Arriving at a balance, the court was conscious that consumers need to be given the choice to decide whether they would prefer to eat from a pure-vegetarian hotel or one that serves vegetarian food during the yatra.
'We are concerned with consumers. It must be his choice. Ultimately, consumer is the king. We need to prioritise the interest of consumers,' it added.
The order came as the court was hearing applications filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Mahua Moitra and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha, challenging the Uttar Pradesh government's press note dated June 25 directing food sellers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes, containing ownership details of the eatery and other legal compliance.
The petitioners argued that the regulations issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) do not permit for QR coding. They also cited a July 22, 2024 order of the top court that stayed a similar direction by the UP police last year directing the eatery owners to display their as well as their employees' names in front of the shop. The applications claimed the present order issued by the UP commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) was an attempt to 'circumvent' the stay by introducing requirements for QR code.
When senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for Jha, sought a clarification that the name of owners need not be displayed on QR code, the bench said: 'All these issues are left open. We are not going into this issue. You may challenge it before the high court. In any case it is infructuous…We are informed today is the last day of Yatra and in any case it is likely to end in near future.'
It added: 'At this stage we only pass an order that all hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and registration certificate as required statutorily.'
The UP government, represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, said the requirement for QR code has been issued by the competent authority under FSSA. The state submitted that not a single affected shop owner had approached the court and questioned the right of the petitioners to challenge the state's direction.
'These devotees are highly sentimental. They would not like to have food from a shop which used to serve non-vegetarian food till a month ago using the same utensils,' Rohatgi said.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the applicants, said: 'This is all about identity politics. This is the most divisive policy to ostracise a minority community during this Yatra which alienates them. It sows the seeds of identity division, is a direct assault on secularism and is per se unconstitutional, violating right to equality, right to practice profession and right to life under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 [of Constitution].'
During this time of the year, he said, all shops along the Kanwar route strictly sell only vegetarian food. 'You can boycott a food based on the menu card, not on the identity of the owner…,' Singhvi added.
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