New Delhi, July 13 -- The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a petition challenging the Uttar Pradesh government's recent directive asking food stall owners along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes revealing their names and identities. The petition, filed by Apoorvanand Jha earlier this week, argued that the directive violates the top court's July 2024 interim order that stayed similar measures on the grounds that they were not legally mandated and could lead to discriminatory profiling. A bench headed by justice MM Sundresh is set to hear the matter on Tuesday. "The new measures mandate the display of QR codes on all eateries along the Kanwar route, which reveal the names and identities of the owners, thereby achieving the same discriminatory profiling that was previously stayed by this court," the petition said, citing a press release issued in this regard by the UP administration on June 25. Jha had earlier moved the court against a similar directive by UP last year. In 2024, the BJP-led governments in both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand had directed food vendors along the Kanwar Yatra route to prominently display the names of shop owners and employees. That directive was then challenged by Jha, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, and NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights. In its interim order on July 22, 2024, the Supreme Court had stayed the enforcement of such directives, observing that forcing shop owners to disclose personal identities was neither supported by law nor necessary for public order or food safety compliance. The court had clarified that such disclosures could be made voluntarily but not compelled. The Kanwar Yatra this year would be from July 11 till August 9. In the application filed on July 8 through advocate Akriti Chaubey, Jha contends that the new QR code requirement represents a "wilful disobedience" of the court's interim order. "Despite the above orders, it is now apparent that the state of Uttar Pradesh and other authorities are circumventing the stay by reintroducing the same directive stating that, as in the previous year, the name of the operator should be clearly displayed at each shop under the garb of public safety and maintenance of law and order," the plea said. The application further argued that mandating disclosure of religious or caste identities, even indirectly, violates the right to privacy....