IMPORTANT POINT
The street vendors / hawkers, the residents and others adversely affected by street vending / hawking may to invoke the jurisdiction of the concerned High Courts for redressal of their grievance.

Headnote:Constitution of India, 1950- Preamble - "dignity"- Street vendors / hawkers have received raw treatment from the State apparatus before and even after the independence. T hey are a harassed lot and are constantly victimized by the officials of the local authorities, the police, etc., who regularly target them for extra income and treat them with extreme contempt. The goods and belongings of the street vendors / hawkers are thrown to the ground and destroyed at regular intervals if they are not able to meet the demands of the officials. Perhaps these minions in the administration have not understood meaning of the term "dignity" enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution. (Para 4)
        Constitution of India, 1950- Art. 19(1)(g)-Right to carry on trade or business- Right of Street vendors / hawkers - Embargo placed by the Supreme Court on the entertaining of matters by the High Courts - The experience has, however, shown that it is virtually impossible for this Court to monitor day to day implementation of the provisions of different enactments and the directions contained in the judgments noted hereinabove. Therefore, it will be appropriate to lift the embargo placed on the entertaining of matters by the High Courts and we order accordingly. Paragraph 45 of the judgment reported in (2009) 17 SCC 151 shall stand modified and the street vendors / hawkers, the residents and others adversely affected by street vending / hawking shall henceforth be entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of the concerned High Courts for redressal of their grievance. (Para 14)
        Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012 - In Gainda Ram’s case (paragraph 78), this Court had directed that appropriate Government should enact a law on or before 30th June, 2011. Once the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012 becomes law, the livelihood of millions would be saved and they will get protection against constant harassment and victimization which has so far been an order of the day. However, till the needful is done, it will be apposite for the Court to step in and direct that the 2009 Policy, of which the salient provisions are extracted below, should be implemented throughout the country (Para 15)
        For facilitating implementation of the 2009 Policy, we issue ( To remain operative till an appropriate legislation is enacted by Parliament or any other competent legislature and is brought into force.) the following directions:
        i) Within one month from the date of receipt of copy of this order, the Chief Secretaries of the State Governments and Administrators of the Union Territories shall issue necessary instructions/directions to the concerned department(s) to ensure that the Town Vending Committee is constituted at city / town level in accordance with the provisions contained in the 2009 Policy. For the cities and towns having large municipal areas, more than one Town Vending Committee may be constituted.
        (ii) Each Town Vending Committee shall consist of representatives of various organizations and street vendors / hawkers. 30% of the representatives from the category of street vendors / hawkers shall be women.
        iii) The representatives of various organizations and street vendors / hawkers shall be chosen by the Town Vending Committee by adopting a fair and transparent mechanism.
        iv) The task of constituting the Town Vending Committees shall be completed within two months of the issue of instructions by the Chief Secretaries of the State and the Administrators of the Union Territories.
        v) The Town Vending Committees shall function strictly in accordance with the 2009 Policy and the decisions taken by it shall be notified in the print and electronic media within next one week.
        vi) The Town Vending Committees shall be free to divide the municipal areas in vending / hawking zones and sub-zones and for this purpose they may take assistance of experts in the field. While undertaking this exercise, the Town Vending Committees constituted for the cities of Delhi and Mumbai shall take into consideration the work already undertaken by the municipal authorities in furtherance of the directions given by this Court. The municipal authorities shall also take action in terms of Paragraph 4.2(b) and (c).
        vii) All street vendors / hawkers shall be registered in accordance with paragraph 4.5.4 of the 2009 Policy. Once registered, the street vendor / hawker, shall be entitled to operate in the area specified by the Town Vending Committee.
        viii) The process of registration must be completed by the municipal authorities across the country within four months of the receipt of the direction by the Chief Secretaries of the States and Administrators of the Union Territories.
        ix) The State Governments / Administration of the Union Territories and municipal and local authorities shall take all the steps necessary for achieving the objectives set out in the 2009 Policy.
        x) The Town Vending Committee shall meet every month and ensure implementation of the relevant provisions of the 2009 Policy and, in particular, paragraph 4.5.1 (b) and (c).
        xi) Physically challenged who were allowed to operate PCO’s in terms of the judgment reported in (2009) 17 SCC 231 shall be allowed to continue to run their stalls and sell other goods because running of PCOs. is no longer viable. Those who were allowed to run Aarey/Sarita shall be allowed to continue to operate their stalls.
        xii) The State Governments, the Administration of the Union Territories and municipal authorities shall be free to amend the legislative provisions and/or delegated legislation to bring them in tune with the 2009 Policy. If there remains any conflict between the 2009 Policy and the municipal laws, insofar as they relate to street vendors/hawkers, then the 2009 Policy shall prevail.
        xiii) Henceforth, the parties shall be free to approach the jurisdictional High Courts for redressal of their grievance and the direction, if any, given by this Court in the earlier judgments / orders shall not impede disposal of the cases which may be filed by the aggrieved parties.
        xiv) The Chief Justices of the High Courts are requested to nominate a Bench to deal with the cases filed for implementation of the 2009 Policy and disputes arising out of its implementation. The concerned Bench shall regularly monitor implementation of the 2009 Policy and the law which may be enacted by the Parliament.
        xv) All the existing street vendors / hawkers operating across the country shall be allowed to operate till the exercise of registration and creation of vending / hawking zones is completed in terms of the 2009 Policy. Once that exercise is completed, they shall be entitled to operate only in accordance with the orders/directions of the concerned Town Vending Committee.
        xvi) The provisions of the 2009 Policy and the directions contained hereinabove shall apply to all the municipal areas in the country. (Para 16)
       Facts of the Case :
        Due to the restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court, no other Court is entertaining the grievance made by the street vendors / hawkers on the one hand and the residents of various colonies and other people on the other hand and this is the reason why dozens of interlocutory applications are being filed in the Supreme Court every year. An embargo was placed by the Supreme Court on the entertaining of writ petitions, etc., by the High Courts. The orders passed by the Supreme Court from time to time have not solved the problems of the street vendors / hawkers and the residents of the cities of Delhi and Mumbai and almost every year they have been seeking intervention of this Court by filing interlocutory applications.
       Findings of the Court :
        Directions issued were to remain operative till an appropriate legislation is enacted by Parliament or any other competent legislature and is brought into force. Paragraph 45 of the judgment reported in (2009) 17 SCC 151 shall stand modified and the street vendors / hawkers, the residents and others adversely affected by street vending / hawking shall henceforth be entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of the concerned High Courts for redressal of their grievance.
       Result : All the appeals and I.As disposed of in the manner indicated.

ORDER

G.S. SINGHVI, J.

1. A street vendor / hawker is a person who offers goods for sale to the public at large without having a permanent structure / place for his activities. Some street vendors / hawkers are stationary in the sense that they occupy space on the pavements or other public / private places while others are mobile in the sense that they move from place to place carrying their wares on push carts or in baskets on their heads.

2. In last four decades, there has been manifold increase in the number of street vendors / hawkers in all major cities in the country. One of the many factors responsible for this phenomena is unabated growth of population without corresponding increase in employment opportunities. The other factor is the migration of rural population to the urban areas. A large section of the rural population has been forced to leave their habitat because of massive acquisition of land and substantial reduction in the number of cottage industries, which offered source of livelihood to many people in the rural areas and even those living in the peripheries of the urban areas. In recent past, many lakh youngsters have moved from the rural areas to the cities with the hope of getting permanent source of livelihood but a substantial number of them have become street vendors /hawkers because their expectations have been belied. One reason which has contributed to this scenario is that unlike other sections of the urban population, they neither have the capacity and strength to demand that the Government should create jobs for them nor do they engage in begging, stealing or extortion. They try to live with dignity and self-respect by doing the work as street vendors / hawkers.

3. The importance of street vendors and hawkers can be measured from the fact that millions of urban poor across the country procure their basic necessities mainly from street vendors / hawkers because the goods, viz., cloths, hosiery items, plastic wares, household items, food items, etc., sold on pavements or through push carts, etc., are cheap. The lower income groups also spend a large proportion of their income in purchasing goods from street vendors / hawkers.

4. Unfortunately, the street vendors / hawkers have received raw treatment from the State apparatus before and even after the independence. They are a harassed lot and are constantly victimized by the officials of the local authorities, the police, etc., who regularly target them for extra income and treat them with extreme contempt. The goods and belongings of the street vendors / hawkers are thrown to the ground and destroyed at regular intervals if they are not able to meet the demands of the officials. Perhaps these minions in the administration have not understood meaning of the term "dignity" enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution.

5. The constant threat faced by the street vendors / hawkers of losing their source of livelihood has forced them to seek intervention of the Courts across the country from time to time. In last 28 years, this Court has struggled to find a workable solution of the problems of street vendors/ hawkers on the one hand and other sections of society including residents of the localities / places where street vendors / hawkers operate and delivered several judgments including Bombay Hawkers' Union vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) 3 SCC 528, Sodan Singh vs. New Delhi Municipal Committee (1989) 4 SCC 155, Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union vs. Municipal Corporation, Greater Mumbai (2004) 1 SCC 625, Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union vs. Municipal Corporation, Greater Mumbai (2009) 17 SCC 151,Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union vs. Municipal Corporation, Greater Mumbai (2009) 17 SCC 231 (this order was passed on 30.07.2004 but was printed in the journal only in 2009) and Gainda Ram vs. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (2010) 10 SCC 715, but the situation has not changed in last four decades. Rather, the problem has aggravated because of lackadaisical attitude o

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Judicial Analysis

SupremeToday

2013 Supreme(SC) 839

IMPORTANT POINT The street vendors / hawkers, the residents and others adversely affected by street vending / hawking may to invoke the jurisdiction of the concerned High Courts for redressal of their grievance.

Cases Referred (8)

Judicial Analysis

IMPORTANT POINT
The street vendors / hawkers, the residents and others adversely affected by street vending / hawking may to invoke the jurisdiction of the concerned High Courts for redressal of their grievance.