Court No. - 39

Case :- WRIT - C No. - 23398 of 2022

Petitioner :- Jai Shiv Khoka Vyaapar Association

Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others

Counsel for Petitioner :- Akhilesh Chandra Shukla,Dhawan

Kumar Pandey

Counsel for Respondent :- CSC,Pankaj Srivastava

Hon'ble Mrs. Sunita Agarwal,J.

Hon'ble Nand Prabha Shukla,J.

Heard Sri Akhilesh Chandra Shukla, learned counsel for the

petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondents and

Sri Pankaj Srivastava, learned counsel appearing on behalf of

Nagar Nigam.

Supplementary counter affidavit on behalf of Nagar Nigam,

Meerut, in compliance of the order dated 19.1.2023, filed today, is

taken on record.

Sri Akhilesh Chandra Shukla, learned counsel for the petitioner

submits that no reply to the said affidavit is required on the part of

the petitioner. We, therefore, proceed to hear the matter on merits.

In the supplementary counter affidavit filed today, a categorical

statement has been made that on 04.02.2023, total 96 street

vendors were allotted space from Shop No. 1 to 96 in Garh Road

Vending Zone, in the platform which can accommodate 150 street

vendors. The said exercise was undertaken in the presence of

District Administration, Police Administration, Senior Officers and

Staff of the Nagar Nigam, Meerut as also the leaders of the

petitioner-association and street vendors. The name of each vendor

was called from the public address system and he was informed of

his platform number, which was publicly announced on the mike,

which included the name of 96 members of the petitioners'

association.

It is also stated in paragraph '6' of the said affidavit that on

03.02.2023 at 11.00 A.M. in the Town Hall near Ghantaghar by a

lottery, the places in vending zone were allotted in favour of street

vendors with prior information to the concerned street vendors and

the members of petitioners' association. The President of the

petitioners' association was present in the Town Hall and stated

that he will not participate in the proceeding of allotment of spaces

to the street vendors. Complete videography of the said meeting

was done which can be produced whenever needed by this Court.

It is also stated in paragraph '8' of the affidavit filed today that the

office bearers and leaders of the petitioners' association refused

and prevented the street vendors to take possession raising a new

ground that Nagar Nigam is uprooting existing vendors.

The leaders of the petitioner-association had refused to take

possession and prevented the street vendors to take possession of

the allotted space. The office bearers of the petitioner-association,

thus, are changing their stand from time to time in order to

sabotage sincere efforts made by the Nagar Nigam, Meerut for

accommodation of the street vendors, removed from Plot No. 6041

belonging to Nagar Nigam, Meerut.

It is also stated in the affidavit filed today that in compliance of

Section 3(1) of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and

Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 (hereinafter referred to

'the Act 2014), 154 spots have been identified in the entire limits

of Nagar Nigam as vending zones and 18250 street vendors were

identified by M/s. Yug Associates who had been entrusted with the

responsibility of identifying street vendors. At present, online

registration of street vendors is in process and 29285 street

vendors have got themselves registered online and five vending

zones have already been constructed/completed. The allotment

letters provided to 96 street vendors have been collectively filed as

Annexure-'5' from page '122' to '128'. The copy of the receipts of

the service of the allotment letters to individual street vendors have

also been appended as Annexure-'6' to the affidavit filed today.

It is specifically stated that no street vendor was ever allotted any

space inside the Plot No. 6041, which is the property of Nagar

Nigam, Me