New Delhi: We can't let the city go to the dogs, we are here to protect the rule of law, the Delhi High Court said on Wednesday, expressing concern over rising number of street vendors, majority of them sitting illegally, in the national capital.
The high court said the area of Delhi is constant and it is bursting at the seams , while the population keeps on increasing and asked how many vendors the authorities are going to permit.
What is troubling us today and what is a cause of concern for us is that what is the number of street vendors? Your population may keep on rising but the area Delhi has is a constant. So how many vendors are you going to be permitting? What are the zones? Where all they will be? It is bursting at the seams, a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh said.
The bench added, Please understand for a place where there are 120 odd tehbazaari right holders, there are about 4000 (vendors). So it's bursting. Where do people walk? We don't want another Lajpat Nagar. We don't want another Nehru Place. That exercise has to be... today what is the plan? What is the number?
The court issued notices and sought responses of the Delhi government, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NrDMC) and Town Vending Committee (TVC), North DMC Zone on plea by Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal seeking direction to strike down various provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme,
2019.
Senior advocate Sanjeev Ralli and lawyer Mohit Mudgal, representing the petitioner association, said the scheme is arbitrary, discriminatory, illegal and contrary to the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulations of Street Vending) Act, 2021 and Rules, 2017.
The court directed the authorities to file their replies within two weeks and said the Delhi government shall give justification for constitution of the current TVC for City-SP Zone and also the background of NGO members, who have been included in the TVC, as to the field in which they are working and the causes taken up by the NGOs.
It also called for relevant records of the authorities and listed the matter for further hearing on December 8.