A recent directive in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district requires eateries and stalls along with the Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage route to display the names of the owners and staff. The move has sparked outrage as political leaders, lawyers, and civil rights activists criticized the directive as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
In a statement issued by the Muzaffarnagar Police circulating on the internet states the managers of food outlets along the Kanwar Yatra route have been requested to voluntarily display the names of the owners and staff. The very next statement refers to this as an order.
Muzaffarnagar senior superintendent of Police, Abhishek Singh too used similarly ambiguous language. In the absence of any written order, it is harder to challenge such a directive in a court of law. A written order would have to indicate the law which police have empowered to issue the particular directive.
Abhishek Singh said that the food vendors have been instructed to display the names of the owners and staff and that everyone is voluntarily following these instructions. The case showcases the police using its extraordinary coercive powers over citizens both outside and within the bounds of law. Citizens realistically have no choice but to follow the advisories.
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