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HIGH COURT OF DELHI
JUDGMENT
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner : Mr. Sanjay Baniwal, Ms. Manisha Baniwal, Mr. Varun Mudgil, Mr. Bhupender Singh and Mr. Shubham Sagar, Advocates.
For the Respondents : Ms. Puja Kalra, Standing Counsel along with Mr. Virendra Singh, Advocate for R-1/MCD.
Mr. Sanjay Lao, Standing Counsel (Criminal) for R-2 and
R-3/SHO with S.I. Mohit Asiwal, P.S.: Karol Bagh.
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 above mentioned facts and circumstances, it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to:
I. Pass an order directing the respondent no. 1 to re-allocate the petitioner from Ajmal Khan Road in compliance of the letter dated 14.10.2021 issued by the respondent no. 1;
II. Pass an order directing the respondents not to disturb the operation of the vending/hawking unit of the petitioner at Karol Bagh Zone, Ward - 102- N in reference/compliance of the Certificate of Vending (COV) issued by the respondent no. 1;
III. Pass an order directing the Respondent MCD to declare the Petitioner as Stationary Street Vendor and Rectify the details of the same in the Vending Certificate of the Petitioner.
IV. Pass any such directions or order that this
AND FOR THIS ACT OF KINDNESS THE PETITIONERS ARE DUTY BOUND SHALL EVER PRAY.”
2. Issue notice.
3. Ms. Puja Kalra, learned Standing Counsel accepts notice on behalf of the respondent No.1/MCD and Mr. Sanjay Lao, learned Standing Counsel (Criminal) accepts notice on behalf of the respondent Nos. 2 and 3/SHO.
4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the MCD, has invited our attention to the terms and conditions, permitting the petitioner 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 Certificate of Vending issued to the petitioner, it is clearly stipulated that he cannot vend from any particular location, contrary to the express terms of Clause no. ‘11’, of the said Certificate 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 petitioner, at this stage. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner states, that he does not pray for the relief of running his business from any particular vending site, within the zone where he has been permitted to vend by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and further, the limited relief that is prayed for, is to permit the petitioner to vend strictly, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Certificate of Vending dated 06.11.2021, 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 petitioner, namely, Mr. Pancham Chaurasiya has been issued a certificate of vending dated 06.11.2021 (URI: 7652684), which is annexed as Annexure P-2, to the present writ petition.
8. In view of the foregoing, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, categorically limits the relief in the present writ petition, to a direction to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, to permit Mr. Pancham Chaurasiya to continue to vend within Karol Bagh Zone, Ward-102-N, strictly and scrupulously in compliance with the terms and conditions of the said certificate of vending, particularly Clause no. 11, and in accordance with law.
9. In view of the above, the present writ petition is partly allowed; and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is directed to permit Mr. Pancham Chaurasiya, the petitioner herein, to vend within Karol Bagh Zone, Ward-102-N, subject to the terms and conditions of the aforementioned certificate of vending dated 06.11.2021, without any let or hindrance.
10. Needless to state that, insofar as prayer clause (III) 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