IMPORTANT POINT
Fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) to do business can be restricted under Article 19(6). Citizen’s right cannot prevail over security considerations of the Supreme Court.

JUDGMENT

M. Y. EQBAL, J.

Leave granted.

2. This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment dated 13.11.2014 of the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, which dismissed the Letters Patent Appeal preferred by the appellant against the decision of learned Single Judge of the High Court, which dismissed the appellant’s writ petition challenging the order dated 03.12.2013 issued by the Enforcement Department, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) deciding to relocate the appellant (a squatter) from his existing site outside Supreme Court to a site near Gate of Baroda House adjacent to the existing stalls due to security reasons.

3. The appellant’s case in brief is that since 1965 he was squatting in the area of Chandni Chowk as a Hawker selling cloths and thereafter Tehbazari of selling tea was given by the NDMC to him at Bhagwan Das Road and he remained there till 1982, when he was shifted to the present place opposite to the Supreme Court. In 1989, a large number of writ petitions claiming a right to trade on the pavements in different parts of Delhi were filed under Article 32 of the Constitution and the Apex Court appointed a Committee known as Thareja Committee to examine the claims made by the squatters in the light of Scheme prepared by the NDMC and the decision in Sodan Singh vs. New Delhi Municipal Corporation, (1989) 4 SCC 155 to identify street pavement in different areas where the street hawking could be regulated without being a hindrance to general public. On the application of the appellant before the Thareja Committee, in May, 1999, he had been allotted one stall bearing size 6’ x 4’, opposite Supreme Court, towards Bhagwan Das Road and near Office Complex of Supreme Court Lawyers and Purana Quila Road Bungalows in May, 1999 by Director (Enforcement) NDMC, New Delhi.

4. In September, 2011, an order was issued by Enforcement Department, NDMC, for temporary suspension of various Tehbazari holders, including the appellant, for security reasons. The appellant’s business from his Kiosk remained unaffected. However, one Laxmi Narain Tiwari, who was allotted a squatting site next to the C-Gate of the Supreme Court of India and was removed, moved the High Court for either restoration of his site or his rehabilitation. On the stand taken by learned counsel for NDMC that a fresh site would be allotted to the writ petitioner Laxmi Narain, his writ petition was disposed of.

5. Appellant herein contended that order dated 12th December, 2012 in Laxmi Narain Tiwari vs. New Delhi Municipal Corporation, W.P.(C) No.6876 of 2012 had no bearing on the appellant’s case and the respondent has wrongly and without any basis has passed the following relocation order dated 3.12.2013:

“The Hon’ble High Court in the case of “Laxmi Narain vs. NDMC & Ors.” have directed the local authorities to allot a fresh site to the petitioners within a period of six weeks from today who were squatting outside the Supreme Court of India and due to security reasons, they were removed from the said site. Now, it has been decided to relocate the following verified squatters from their existing sites to the following sites:-

(emphasis supplied)

6. It has been pleaded on behalf of the appellant that the allotment was in accordance with Article 39(a) of the Constitution and his right to carry on his trade and occupation from the kiosk allotted to him by NDMC on the basis of a direction by Thareja Committee is protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. It has been further pleaded that his right could never be restricted by an executive order and the said right could be curtailed or taken away under Article 19(6) of the Constitution only by a law enacted under Article 13 of the Constitution.

7. It is the appellant’s case that he has been carrying on his trade/occupation on this very place since before 1982 and regularly paying rent of the Kiosk allotted to him. The appellant over a long period of time has developed goodwill and a very strong