The central legal point established in the judgment is that the Street Vendors Act does not apply to vendors within the exclusive jurisdiction of SIDCO, emphasizing the need for valid licenses and permissions from SIDCO for carrying out vending activities.

S. Vaidyanathan, J.

1. Since the Writ Petitions are interlinked, they are taken up together for disposal by a common order.

2. When the Writ Petitions are taken up for hearing, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in W.P.Nos.28818 and 32520 of 2017 seeks permission of this Court to withdraw the same and she has also made an endorsement to that effect.

3. The facts of the case in W.P.No.15093 of 2017 and W.P.No.17952 of 2017 are as follows:

(i) The petitioner in W.P.No.15093 of 2017 as also the Members of the Petitioner Association in W.P.No.17952 of 2017 are physically challenged persons and are eking out their livelihood by running a bunk shops on the road side margin of Ambattur Industrial Estate, Chennai 58 for the past several years by selling tea, coffee and food items in a hygienic manner and that there is no disturbance to the general public and free flow of traffic.

(ii) The Central Government has enacted 'The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood Regulation) Act, 2014', hereinafter called 'the Street Vendors Act, safeguarding the street vendors by regulating their business. According to the petitioner, by the said Act, the State Government has to form the Town Vending Committee and the Committee shall declare a zone or part of which to be a 'No vending Zone' for any street purpose, the street vendors vending in that area, in such manner, as may be specified in the scheme. As per the Street Vendors Act, 'Street Vendors' include the persons who are offering services to the general public in a street, lane, side walk, foot path, pavement in a temporary built up structure also. Therefore, under the provisions of the Act, the State Government has to form a Township Vending Committee and take steps to regulate street vending and till such time, the business of the street vendors shall not be interfered with.

(iii) As per Section 3 of the Street Vendors Act, 'no street vendor' shall be evicted, relocated till the survey specified is conducted as per the provisions of the Act. According to the petitioner in W.P.No.17952 of 2017, they have already approached this Court by way of a Writ Petition in W.P.No.14456 of 2015 to consider the request for grant of license/permission to its members for running bunk shops on the road margin at the Ambattur Industrial Estate, Chennai and not to disturb their peaceful running of the bunk shop business by its members and this Court, passed an order to dispose of their representation. Pursuant thereto, the 4th Respondent had passed an order on 28.05.2016 rejecting the representation of the petitioner-Association. Thereafter, the said order was challenged in W.P.No.16075 of 2015. The Hon'ble First Bench of this Court allowed the Writ Petition in W.P.No.18677 of 2014, batch of cases, wherein, it is clearly ordered that till the Township Vending Committee is formed and the issue is decided, there shall be no threat to the bunk shops of the members of the Petitioner's Association.

(iv) In the meantime, there was a notice from the 4th respondent to the members of the Petitioner/Association to vacate the shops within ten days, failing which, appropriate action will be taken to remove their petty shops. In the said notice, the 4th respondent referred to an order dated 21.11.2016 passed by this Court in W.P.No.5232 of 2014. According to the petitioners, the said order will not be applicable to the facts of this case and the action of the authorities, namely, the 4th respondent is contrary to the provisions of the Act and that the petitioners are entitled to continue in the existing place. Therefore, the petitioner/Association filed W.P.No.6280 of 2017 for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus seeking to forbear the Respondents 2 to 6 therein from interfering with the peaceful running of the bunk shops and this Court, on 15.03.2017, passed an order permitting the petitioners to approach the vending committee and submit a representation. Though the Petitioners made such representation, the sam