The Delhi government on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that no coercive action will be taken against street vendors in the Capital till Diwali.
The Aam Aadmi Party-led government told a Bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that the authorities concerned, after deliberations, decided not to take action against the street vendors as of now and this was also conveyed to the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor.
The Bench then asked, “Who will be a genuine street vendor? Who will identify that a street vendor is genuine or not?”
Responding to this, the government and civic bodies said: “It is a stop-gap arrangement only till Diwali.”
The Bench said it would not take on record the copy of the decision taken by the authorities concerned, which was placed before it, as it might further complicate the issue.
“If you [the authorities] want, you can take action. We will not say anything. We will not take it [the copy of the decision] on record as it might complicate the matter,” the Bench said, fixing the matter for hearing on November 7.
The Bench was hearing the pleas of Congress leader Ajay Maken and two non-government organisations alleging that the municipal bodies of central and south Delhi were “throwing out” street vendors from hawking zones, despite a High Court order protecting them from the same.
‘Can’t review order’
During Wednesday’s hearing, the counsel appearing for the applicants told the Bench that despite the order, the authorities were removing street vendors.
The Bench, however, said: “We cannot go on reviewing our order. We have passed a detailed order. You wait till November 7. We will hear the matter along with the main matter.”
In their applications, Mr. Maken and the NGOs said the High Court had on October 5 ruled that its September 9 order stating no street vendor should be evicted from city roads without due process of law shall not be applicable to non- hawking zones.
The applicants had contended that under the garb of this order, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had started throwing out vendors even from hawking zones like Rajiv Chowk, Indira Chowk and Lajpat Nagar. — PTI
Bench asks govt. to clarify how ‘genuine vendors’ will be identified; next date of hearing is Nov 7
