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HIGH COURT OF DELHI
JUDGMENT
SANGTHAN AND ORS ..... Petitioners
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner : Mr. Aditya, Mr. Anjani Kumar Mishra & Mr. Bhibhuti Bhushan Mishra, Advocates.
For the Respondents : Ms. Puja Kalra, Standing Counsel for MCD with Mr. Virendra Singh, Advocate.
Mr. Divyam Nandrajog, Panel Counsel GNCTD with
Mr. Jatin Dua, Advocate.
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 petitioners, 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 petitioner no. 2 to 24 to peacefully vend in terms of the Certificate of Vending issued to them.
II. Pass an Order directing the respondents to ensure that the petitioner no. 2 to 24 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 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 petitioner no. 2 to 24 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 directing the respondent MCD to correct the nomenclature in the column for Type of Vendor from "Others" to "Stationary Street Vendor" (in view of the Section 6 of the Act) as detailed in the vending certificates issued to the petitioner no. 2 to 24.
VI. Pass an order directing the TVC, City SP Zone to decide the representation dated 13.09.2023 made by the petitioner no. 2 to 24 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 Hon'ble
2. Issue notice.
3. Ms. Puja Kalra, learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and Mr. Divyam Nandarajog, learned panel counsel appearing on behalf of the GNCTD accept notice.
4. Learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the MCD, has handed-up in the Court today, the terms and conditions, permitting the petitioners to vend. Let the same be taken on the record
5. For the sake of completeness, the said terms and conditions attached to the Certificates 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, 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. Savitri 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 1140127 Others
2. Mohammad Haider Ali 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 4081880 Others
3. Mushtaq Ansari 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 2888053 Others
4. Mohd. Amiruddin Ward-85-N 6653005 Others
5. Halima 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 9143197 Others
6. Jumman 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 9398853 Others
7. Md Mehrb Uddin Ward-85-N 8910439 Others
8. Pradeep Kumar 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 5312616 Others
9. Hasibuddin 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 3767136 Others
10. Mohd. Israr 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 3149933 Others
11. Shivalak Sahni 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 9237493 Others
12. Aas Mohammad 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 3758240 Others
13. Shajid Alam 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 3926666 Others
14. Mohammad Jaheer Ward-85-N 2278955 Others
15. Habibuddin 12.04.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 4942235 Others
16. Balram Singh 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 4565192 Others
17. Md Abdul Hakim Mondal Ward-85-N 3625936 Others
18. Yogesh Kumar Yadav Ward-85-N 6404421 Others
19. Md. Raja 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 4189604 Others
20. Dhari Prasad 12.04.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 7577373 Others
21. Iqbal Ahmad 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 5203984 Others
22. Parvez Alam 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 9395542 Others
23. Raj Pal Kashyap 31.01.2022 City-SP Zone, Ward-85-N 9943275 Others
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 V and VI are concerned, the petitioners will be at liberty to prosecute their representations and articulate any difficulties faced by them, before the appropriate authorities, in accordance with law, in relation to the certificate of vending, insofar as it employs the expression „Others‟.
11. No further directions are prayed for.
12. With the above directions, the present writ petition is partly allowed; and 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