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#S-43 HIGH COURT OF DELHI
JUDGMENT
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioners : Mr. Anjani Kumar Mishra, Mr. Kamlesh Kr. Mishra, Mr. Aditya, Mr. Bibhuti Bhushan Mishra, Mr. Dipak Raj and Mr. Kailash Kr. Jha, Advocates.
For the Respondents : Ms. Vandana Sehgal, Advocate for R-1/MCD.
Mr. Sanjay Lao, Standing Counsel (Crl.) for R-3 & R-
4/SHO, P.S.: Laxmi Nagar.
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 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 Footpath, Vikas Marg, Near Lalita Park, Laxmi Nagar, Shahdara South Zone, Ward-13-E, 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 Laxmi
V. Pass an order directing the respondent MCD to correct the nomenclature in the column for Type of Vendor from "Food/Snacks with gas cylinder/fire" to "Stationary Street Vendor" (in view of the Section 6 of the Act) as detailed in the vending certificates issued to the petitioners.
VI. 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.
VII. Pass an order directing the TVC, Shahdara
South Zone to decide the representation dated 11.08.2023 made by the petitioners for declaring them as a Stationary Street Vendor in terms of the Section 6 of the Act.
VIII. Pass any such directions or order that this
2. Issue notice.
3. Ms. Vandana Sehgal, learned 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. 3 and 4/SHO, P.S.: Laxmi Nagar
4. Learned 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 Certificates of Vending, are reproduced herein below:-
6. In terms of the Certificates of Vending issued to the petitioners, it is clearly stipulated that 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 vendors 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 limited 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 08.11.2021, 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 following 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 CERTIFI CATE (URI)
CATEGORY OF THE COV 1 Mr. Kripa Sankar Paswan 08.11.2021 Shahdara South Zone, Ward-13E 9055596 Fresh Fruits/Vegetables /Perishables
8. In view of the foregoing, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners, categorically limits the relief in the present writ petition, i.e. to a direction to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, to permit the aforesaid petitioners to continue to vend within Shahdara South Zone, Ward-13E, strictly and scrupulously in compliance with the terms and conditions of the said certificates 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 the petitioners to vend within Shahdara South Zone, Ward-13E, subject to the terms and conditions of the aforementioned certificates of vending dated 08.11.2021, without any let or hindrance.
10. Needless to state that, insofar as prayer clause (VII) is concerned, the duly constituted Town Vending Committee (TVC) is directed to determine the representation made by the petitioners, dated 11.08.2023, appended to this petition, which is annexed as ‘Annexure P-4, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of eight weeks from today, after affording an opportunity to the petitioners, of being heard, by way of a speaking order, in accordance with law.
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 04, 2023 Click here to check corrigendum, if any