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HIGH COURT OF DELHI
JUDGMENT
For the Petitioners : Mr. Aditya, Mr. Anjani Kumar Mishra & Mr. Bhibhuti Bhushan Mishra, Advocates.
For the Respondents : Ms. Tajinder Virdi, Standing Counsel for MCD
(through video-conferencing).
Mr.Nipun Katyal & Ms. Anam Siddiqui, Advocates for
Delhi Police.
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANISH DAYAL
1. The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 1950, has been instituted on behalf of the petitioner, praying as follows:- ‘In the facts and circumstances stated herein above, it is Most Respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to:
I. Pass an order directing the respondents to allow the petitioners to peacefully vend in terms of the Certificate of Vending issued to them.
II. Pass an Order directing the respondents to ensure that the petitioners be allowed to peacefully vend on their vending sites i.e., On the Pavement, Near Jama Masjid Gate No. 2, Meena Bazar, City SP Zone, Ward-85-N, Delhi without any hindrance being caused by any public official.
III. Pass an order directing the respondents, their officials, their agents etc. be restrained from harassing the petitioners from peacefully vending at their vending sites.
IV. Pass an order directing the SHO, PS Jama Masjid to ensure that the petitioner street vendors shall be allowed to peacefully vend at their vending sites.
V. Pass an order for quashing and setting aside the terms of certificate of vending printed at the back side of the vending certificate to the extent which is not applicable to a stationary street vendor.
VI. Pass an order directing the TVC, City SP Zone to decide the representation dated 12.09.2023 made by the petitioners for declaring them as a Stationary Street Vendor in terms of the Section 6 of the Act.
VII. Pass any such directions or order that this
2. Issue notice.
3. Ms. Tajinder Virdi, learned Standing Counsel, accepts notice on behalf of the MCD and Mr. Nipun Katyal, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of the Delhi Police.
4. Learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the MCD, has invited our attention to the terms and conditions, permitting the petitioners to vend.
5. For the sake of completeness, the said terms and conditions attached to the Certificate of Vending, are reproduced herein below:-
6. In terms of the Certificates of Vending issued to the petitioners, it is clearly stipulated they cannot vend from any particular location, contrary to the express terms of Clause no. ‘11’, of the said Certificates of Vending. It is further observed that since the Town Vending Committee (TVC) is yet to fix a time limit, providing for a period during which a vendor can vend from any particular spot, the stipulation of 30 minutes time contained in the said clause, is binding on the petitioners at this stage. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners states, that they do not pray for the relief of running their business from any particular vending site, within the zone where they have been permitted to vend by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and further, the solitary relief that is prayed for is to permit the petitioners to vend, strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Certificates of Vending dated 31.01.2022, issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
7. It is an admitted position that the Town Vending Committee (TVC), has in terms of the directions issued by this Court, from time to time, as well as, in terms of the mandate of Section 3 (Survey of street vendors and protection from eviction on relocation) and Section 4 (Issue of certificate of vending) of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, carried out a survey, in some of the areas under the MCD zones; pursuant to which, the petitioners have been issued Certificates of Vending, which are annexed as Annexure P-3, to the present writ petition.
NAME OF THE STREET VENDORS DATE OF ISSUE OF VENDING CERTIFICATE PLACE OF VENDING VENDING CERTIFICATE (URI)
CATEGORY OF THE COV ISSUED
1. Noor 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 2452428 Food/ Snack with gas cylinder/ fire
2. Aslam Khan 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 6486196 Food/ Snack with gas cylinder/ fire
8. In view of the foregoing, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners, limits the relief in the present writ petition, to a direction to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, to permit the above-mentioned street vendors, to continue to vend within City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N, strictly and scrupulously in compliance with the terms and conditions of the said Certificates of Vending.
9. In view of the above, the present writ petition is partly allowed; and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is directed to permit the abovementioned street vendors, to vend within their respective zones, subject to the terms and conditions as specified in the Certificates of Vending, without any let or hindrance.
10. Needless to state that, insofar as prayer clause (VI) is concerned, the petitioner will be at liberty to articulate the difficulties faced by him, before the appropriate authorities i.e. Town Vending Committee (TVC), at the time they carry out the subject survey, in accordance with law, in relation to the certificate of vending.
11. No further directions are prayed for.
12. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of accordingly.
13. A copy of this judgment be uploaded on the website of this Court, forthwith.
SIDDHARTH MRIDUL (JUDGE)
ANISH DAYAL (JUDGE) SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 Aanchal Click here to check corrigendum, if any