[Street Vendors Act] Delhi High Court calls meeting of stakeholders over implementation

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday called for a meeting of all the major stakeholders including municipal corporations, the Delhi Cantonment Board and the Delhi government, to devise a process for the proper implementation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 [New Delhi Traders Association v. NDMC].

A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh directed that the meeting be held in judges' chambers at 2 pm on December 11.

"Let us have a one-to-one. We will call in all the Commissioners and meet them in the chambers of the Court at 2 pm, this Saturday. Let the concerned officers of the Delhi government also come. Let's try to work it out for everybody's benefits and when we say everybody, we mean everybody," the Court said.

The Court on Wednesday also expressed its displeasure about how the different stakeholders had failed to regulate the hawking and vending activities in and around the city, owing primarily to the lack of implementation of the Act.

"You have to apply your mind as administrators. You have to think of requirements like toilets for the vendors and demarcation of places to eat for them. Where's the application of mind to all these things," the Bench demanded.

Thereafter, the Court directed the lawyers in the matter including Senior Advocate Sanjeev Ralli on behalf of the Traders Association, advocate Mini Pushkarna on behalf of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Additional Standing Counsel Gautam Narayan on behalf of the Delhi government, among others, to be present at the meeting.

The Court was hearing nearly two dozen petitions filed by various traders and street vendors associations from Delhi's Connaught Place, Nehru Place and Sarojini Nagar markets challenging the provisions of the Street Vendors Act.

During the last hearing, the Court had directed the local authorities including NDMC as well as the Delhi government to initiate the process of preparing a City Plan as per Section 21 of the 2014 Act.

The Court had also expressed its displeasure at the non-compliance with its earlier orders.

"Despite declaring these as 'no-hawking' and 'no-squatting' zones, these areas are still being used. This can absolutely not be permitted. Please comply with our last order," the Bench had remarked.