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#S-43 HIGH COURT OF DELHI
JUDGMENT
RANJIT THAKUR AND ORS . .... Petitioners
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioners : Mr. Bibhuti Bhushan Mishra, Mr. Kamlesh Kumar
Mishra, Mr. Anjani Kumar Mishra and Mr. Kailash Kumar Jha, Advocates.
For the Respondents : Ms. Puja Kalra, Sanding Counsel along with Mr. Divya Prakash Pande, Standing Counsel (through video- conferencing) along with Mr. Virendra Singh, Advocate for R-1/MCD.
Ms. Avni Singh and Mr. Deepak Chaudhary, Advocates for R-2 & R-3.
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ANISH DAYAL
1. The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 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 ensure that the petitioner Street Vendors be allowed to peacefully vend in terms of the vending certificate issued to them, on their vending sites i.e., On the Pavement at Astha Kunj Road, Opposite Satyam Cinema, Nehru Place, South Zone, Ward- S-86, without any hindrance being caused by any public official.
II. Pass an order directing the SHO, PS
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 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.
V. Pass any such directions or order that this
2. Issue notice.
3. Ms. Puja Kalra, learned Standing Counsel, accepts notice on behalf of the respondent No. 1/MCD and Ms. Avni Singh, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of the respondent Nos. 2 and 3.
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 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.
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 CERTIFICATE (URI)
CATEGORY OF THE COV
2 Mr. Raj Narayan Chaurasiya 06.11.2021 South Zone, Ward-S-86 8489603 Food/Snack 3 Mr. Mohammad Mahfuz Ward-S-86 3526317 Food/Snack
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. a direction to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, to permit the aforesaid petitioners to continue to vend within South Zone, Ward-S- 86, 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 South Zone, Ward-S-86, subject to the terms and conditions of the aforementioned certificates of vending dated 06.11.2021, without any let or hindrance.
10. No further directions are prayed for.
11. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of accordingly. The pending applications also stand disposed of.
12. A copy of this judgment be uploaded on the website of this Court forthwith.
SIDDHARTH MRIDUL (JUDGE)
ANISH DAYAL (JUDGE) JULY 18, 2023 Click here to check corrigendum, if any