Amrit Lal Chaurasiya & Anr v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi & Ors

J U D G M E N T

SIDDHARTH MRIDUL, J. (OPEN COURT)

¶1The present writ petition under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, 1950, has been instituted on behalf of the petitioners, praying as follows:-"It is, therefore, most respectfully and humbly prayed from this Hon'ble Court that this Writ Petition may please be allowed. It is further prayed that this Hon'ble Court may:-

a. Issue appropriate writ, order and/ or

direction against the Respondent No. 1 &

3 for abusing his power and prohibiting

Respondent No. 1 & 3 from continuously

harassing the Petitioners.

b. Issue appropriate writ, order and/ or

direction allowing the Petitioners to carry

of the business as Street Vendor

peacefully and in accordance with their

Certificate of Vending, without any illegal

interference from the Respondent

authorities.

c. Allow the petitioners the same relief as

prayed for in W.P.(C)10710/2023 in

pursuance of this Hon'ble Court's oral

directions for filing separate writ for

separate category of street vendors;

d. Any other order which this Hon'ble Court

may deem fit in the facts and circumstances

of the case may also be passed."

¶2Issue notice.

¶3Ms. Vandana Sehgal, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of the respondent Nos. 1 and 2/MCD and Ms. Priyam Agarwal, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of the respondent No. 3/P.S.: South Shahdara Zone.

¶4Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the MCD, has invited our attention to the terms and conditions, permitting the petitioners to vend.

¶5For the sake of completeness, the said terms and conditions attached to the Certificate of Vending, are reproduced herein below:-

"1. Vendor shall not have any other permanent

or long-term vending certificate.

¶2Vending certificate is non-transferable.

¶3It is mandatory for the vendor to follow the

vending period and zone as determined by

TVC or local body.

¶4Vendor shall not give his vending

certificate on rent in any way.

¶5Vendor shall not have any infectious

disease.

¶6Vendor shall have to take care of hygiene

on vending place/zone and nearby area

and also take care of public health.

¶7Vendor shall display copy of vending

certificate on his place/vending site and

will produce original documents to

TVC/concerned inspector whenever

required.

¶8Vendor/Squatter shall insure that no

hindrance be caused to pedestrian and

vehicular moment.

¶9Vendor shall not vend/sell any harmful,

dangerous and polluted items. It

should also be ensured that the

quality of the products sold and

services provided to the public conform to

the prescribed standards of public

health, hygienic conditions and

safety.

¶10The street vendor shall not do any

unauthorized/illegal activity.

¶11Mobile vendors shall not stay or vend

more than minutes or time

prescribed by the TVC at place in a

vending/squatting zone.

¶12Vendors will not block footpaths and will

not vend on roads. Vendor should take care

of space in front of vending stalls/counters

on footpath for pedestrians.

¶13Vending certificate can be cancelled or

suspended on the basis of violations.

¶14Vendor shall not build or construct any

kind of permanent or temporary structure

at vending site.

¶15Seller shall adopt health and hygiene

conditions as required by local laws and

court orders.

¶16Vendor have to follow all the conditions

mentioned in Delhi Street Vendors

(Protection of Livelihood and

Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme,

2019."

¶6In 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.

¶7It 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-2 and Annexure P-3, to the present writ petition.

S.NO. NAME OF THE STREET VENDORS DATE OF ISSUE OF VENDING CERTIFICAT E

PLACE OF VENDING VENDING CERTIFIC ATE (URI) CATEGORY OF THE COV ISSUED Mr. Amrit Lal Chaurasiya

08.11.2021 Shahdara South Zone, Ward-19E 4410174 Others Mr. Mushrraf

24.11.2021 Shahdara South Zone, Ward-14E 3885574 Others

¶8In 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 petitioner No.1, namely, Mr. Amrit Lal Chaurasiya, to continue to vend within Shahdara South Zone, Ward-19E and the petitioner No. 2, namely, Mr. Mushrraf, to continue to vend within Shahdara South

Zone, Ward-14E respectively, 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.

¶9In view of the above, the present writ petition is partly allowed; and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is directed to permit the petitioner No.1, namely, Mr. Amrit Lal Chaurasiya, to continue to vend within Shahdara South Zone, Ward-19E and the petitioner No. 2, namely, Mr. Mushrraf, to continue to vend within Shahdara South Zone, Ward-14E respectively, subject to the terms and conditions of the aforementioned certificates of vending dated 08.11.2021 and 24.11.2021, without any let or hindrance.

¶10No further directions are prayed for.

¶11With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of accordingly. The pending application also stands disposed of.

¶12A copy of this judgment be uploaded on the website of this Court forthwith.

SIDDHARTH MRIDUL

(JUDGE)

ANISH DAYAL

(JUDGE) SEPTEMBER 06, 2023/rs

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#S-42 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Judgment Delivered On: 06.09.2023 W.P.(C) 11379/2023 & CM APPL. 44276/2023 (for ad-interim relief) AMRIT LAL CHAURASIYA & ANR. ..... Petitioners versus MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI & ORS…Respondents Advocates who appeared in this case: For the Petitioners : Mr. Varun Singh, Ms. Kajal Gupta, Ms. Smriti Wadhwa and Ms. Somesa Gupta, Advocates. For the Respondents : Ms. Vandana Sehgal, Advocate for R-1 & R-2. Ms. Priyam Agarwal, Advocate for Mr. Sanjay Lao, Standing Counsel (Criminal) for R-3/P.S.: South Shahdara Zone. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SIDDHARTH MRIDUL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANISH DAYAL