India, July 22 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the Uttar Pradesh government's order mandating restaurants along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes with names of owners. It directed the restaurant owners to display their license and registration certificates as required under the Food Safety and Standards Act and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks for compliance.

The court passed the order on Trinamool Congress lawmaker Mahua Moitra and academic Apoorvanand Jha's separate pleas challenging the state government order, saying it promoted religious profiling.

Moitra and Jha said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations do not permit QR coding. They cited a July 2024 Supreme...