Plea For Effective Implementation Of Street Vendors Act: Uttarakhand High Court Passes Interim Order To Prevent Illegal Evictions

In a public interest litigation seeking directions to ensure strict compliance with statutory provisions pertaining to street vendors, the Uttarakhand High Court has directed the respondent authorities to prevent illegal evictions of hawkers/ street vendors from the markets, etc.The bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Narayan Singh Dhanik has asked the Respondents not to evict any street vendor until the next date of hearing, unless such evictions are within the confines of procedure laid down in Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood & Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 (SV Act, 2014) and other relevant Rules and Schemes. The state has been asked to file its counter-affidavit in six weeks and the matter has been posted on 16th February, 2022. Grounds The petitioner, National Hawkers Federation, an association of street vendors across India, has contended that the right to livelihood embedded in Article 21 of the Constitution and the right to carry on any trade or business in Article 19(1) (g) have been blatantly and systematically violated by respondent authorities including Municipal Corporations in the State of Uttarakhand. The petition states that street vendors in Nainital and across the state are harassed by frequent inspections wherein their items are confiscated illegally without giving any acknowledgement or seizure receipt as envisaged under the Act and its Rules. The petitioner also added that the confiscated articles are destroyed by the Municipal authorities, depriving the street vendors of their right to livelihood as underscored in Olga Tellis & Ors. v. Bombay Municipal Corporation & Ors., 1986 AIR 180 & Sodan Singh v. Delhi Municipal Corporation (1989). Regarding non-implementation of the Act, the petitioner stated that the survey of street vendors as mandated by Section 3(1) of the SV Act, 2014 has not yet been carried out across the State. According to the said section, the town vending committee (TVC) is required to carry out a survey of all existing street vendors at least once every five years. The street vendors that come within the ambit of Section 2 (1) of the 2014 Act are entitled to obtain a certificate of vending under Section 4 of the Act, if they carry on their business within the parameters prescribed by Section 5, submitted the petitioner. Relying on a direction issued by the Secretary of Central Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to all Chief Secretaries in January 2021, the petitioner contends that the respondents cannot relocate the street vendors without following the process envisaged in the Act and without express permission from Town Vending Committee (TVC). Alleging contravention of Section 3 (3) of the Act, the petitioner federation argues that eviction, relocation and confiscation of articles without a survey of street vendors being carried out by TVC is illegal. Further, Section 27 of the Act bars interference from Police in the lawful activities carried out by a street vendor who has a certificate of vending. The petitioner federation relied on Maqbool Ahmed v. South Delhi Municipal Corporation (2014) to bolster the position that Section 3(3) of the Act prevents eviction until the survey of existing street vendors is undertaken and certificates of vending are issued to them. The petitioner argued that State's inaction in constituting TVCs and conducting surveys cannot be held against the street vending activities carried out by members of the federation. Based on the above grounds, the petitioner prayed for effective implementation of Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood & Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, The Uttarakhand Street Vendor (Protection of Livelihood & Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2016 and Street Vendor ( Protection of Livelihood & Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2020. The federation also seeks relief in terms of declaring the current TVCs as temporary ones for the purpose of conducting survey of street vendors. Afterwards, it is prayed that elections be conducted to TVCs within a stipulated time. It also seeks directions for issuance of fresh vending certificates and identity cards as well as the cancelling of already issued certificates, allotment of vending areas and temporary licenses since it was not done by elected TVCs. The petition also states that records, including acknowledgement slips and prior notices issued if any, on confiscation and destruction of goods owned by street vendors must be produced, examined and declared illegal if found to be in non-consonance with the provisions of the Act & Rules. Background In 2018, Nainital Municipality had allotted shops to a few street vendors in a meeting presided by ADM, allegedly in contravention to the procedure laid down in SV Act, 2014. In April, 2019, some of the street vendors sent a representation to Kumaon Division Commissioner against the...

Plea For Effective Implementation Of Street Vendors Act: Uttarakhand High Court Passes Interim Order To Prevent Illegal Evictions

Sebin James

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