India's top court puts discriminatory order against eateries on hold

India's Supreme Court has put on hold directives issued by authorities in two Indian states for eateries to identify their owners.

The court passed the interim order on Monday while issuing notice on a batch of petitions challenging the government directives, according to the legal news website Livelaw.

The bench, however, clarified that the eateries should display the type of food being served.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, India's largest socio-religious Muslim organisation, expressed concern about the order in the northern Uttar Pradesh state and Uttarakhand, asking eateries including roadside carts to display the names of their owners to "avoid confusion" during a Hindu holy pilgrimage when thousands of worshippers will make the journey on foot.

Last week, police in the Uttar Pradesh state's Muzaffarnagar district initially ordered all eateries along the pilgrimage route to display the names of their owners.

Days later, the state government had extended the controversial order across the state, according to local media.

Hindu pilgrimage

Police in Haridwar in neighbouring Uttarakhand’s Haridwar issued similar directions Friday.

Opposition leaders have criticised the government for the order.

A minister from Uttar Pradesh, however, defended the government's stance as a "matter of social harmony."

The yearly pilgrimage takes place from July 22 to Aug. 2, which is the Hindu holy month of Sawan. Hindu pilgrims trek for days or weeks at a time to pilgrimage spots along the sacred Ganges river to gather water to be offered at Shiva temples.

Usually, police are called in to keep the peace and traffic restrictions are in place. However, there have been reports of violence and vandalism in recent years as a result of the lack of crowd management as huge groups of young men pass through popular cities, sometimes walking in the centre of the road.