Delhi HC agrees to hear challenge to Street Vendors Act
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday decided to hear pleas relating to the provisions of the Street Vendors Act of 2014, including one that challenged the legislation, after noting that talks of making Delhi like London will go nowhere without considering the planning aspect of the city.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh was hearing a batch of petitions filed by street vendors in the city seeking various benefits such as regularisation under the Street Vendors Act, 2014, and one that challenged the legislation itself, while making these observations and noting that it will take up the challenge on October 30.
Recently, the Delhi High Court has come down heavily on the number of vendors in marketplaces such as Connaught Place, following which many in the area had also staged a protest. The court was trying to adhere to the limits of street vendors set in the latest Master Plan of Delhi while issuing such directions.
On Monday, the bench of Justices Sanghi and Singh noted orally, "You can't even walk in Connaught Place as there are Vendors occupying the space, it has become a business. In Nehru Place, you can't even walk as street vendors have made it their permanent place of business. We had to take Suo moto cognizance of an incident of fire at Nehru Place, the matter is presently before Justice Manmohan. The condition of Nehru place market is like a slum. The need is to decide on the number of permissible vendors in a particular area while taking into account the plan of the place," according to legal news website LiveLaw.
Significantly, the court clarified that it was not against street vendors and hawkers running their businesses. It acknowledged that street vending provides employment to thousands — especially those from the lower strata of the society but also said that there was a need to balance the rights of the vendors and those of people who rented shops and those who visited the marketplaces to shop.
"We all have grown up buying from street hawkers, we still go to Kirana shops, street food vendors for our day-to-day needs. We don't go to malls for that. Nobody is against the street hawkers, we just want that city is not unreasonably crowded due to them. If we find the act to be alright, we will go-ahead, if we find shortcomings, we will give suggestions,"
Justice Vipin Sanghi said, adding that it would also look into the challenge to the Street Vendors Act.
Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, on behalf of the impleader in the case, noted that the law was marvelous but noted it was not being implemented properly. The court asked him to file his response to the plea challenging the act and posted the matter for next hearing.
