$~50 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 2321/2026 HAWKERS SURAKSHA FOUNDATION .....Petitioner Through: Mr. N. K. Sahoo, Advocate.

versus NEW-DELHI MUNICIPAL COUNCIL AND ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Sriharsha Peechara Standing Counsel for NDMC with Mr. Aditya Manubarwala ASC, Mr. Soumit Ganguli, Ms. Ravicha Sharma, Ms. Shruti Agarwal and Mr. Akash Sharma Advocates (M: 9717466788).

CORAM:

JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUSTICE MADHU JAIN

O R D E R

% 18.02.2026

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner-Hawkers Suraksha Foundation which claims to be an NGO working for the cause of squatters and hawkers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, seeking issuance of an appropriate writ directing the Respondents to consider the Petitioner and its authorized persons for representation before the committee considering the Town Vending Plan in compliance with the order dated 5th February, 2026 passed by this Court in W.P.(C) 151/2026 titled ‘Palika Bazar Shopkeepers Welfare Association & Ors. v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi’.

3. The Petitioner claims that it has been representing the groups of hawkers and vendors for several years, both before the Delhi High Court and Hon’ble Supreme Court. Various writ petitions have been filed by the Petitioner, wherein the Petitioner has represented hawkers and vendors. The list of the said petitions have been mentioned in paragraph 6 of the present petition.

4. The prayer in this writ petition, inter alia, is that vide order dated 5^th February, 2026, this Court, in Palika Bazar Shopkeepers Welfare Association and Ors. (Supra) had directed hawkers to be represented before the Department of Urban Development, Government of NCT of Delhi, which is now considering the Town Vending Plan submitted by the New Delhi Municipal Council (hereinafter, ‘NDMC’). In the said writ petition, five representatives on behalf of the hawkers have been permitted to make their submissions before the Joint Secretary, Department of Urban Development, Government of NCT of Delhi.

5. The Petitioner further prays that the representatives of the Petitioners may also be permitted to appear before the said official to place their position. 6. Heard. In the order dated 5^th February, 2026 in Palika Bazar Shopkeepers Welfare Association and Ors. (Supra), the directions given by this Court are as under:-

“2. The prime locality of Connaught Place including Palika Bazaar is the subject matter of this petition. As always, the two stakeholders who have competing interests are the shopkeepers on the one hand and street vendors on the other.

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10. The Town Vending Plan has now been finalised by the NDMC, after considering all the submissions of the various stakeholders. The Minutes of Meeting of the TVC dated 9^th October, 2025 of the meeting dated 06^th October, 2025, by which the Town Vending Plan was approved are set out below:

“5. TVC after going through the Town Vending Plan and objections received in this regard, unanimously decided that the objections received are generic in nature and have no substance. Accordingly, Town Vending Plan prepared by Architect Department may be submitted to GNCTD for its approval and notification at the earliest.”

11. The stand of the shopkeepers is that none of the objections have been taken seriously or even considered and no reasoning has been given as to why the objections raised are not valid. Similar is the stand of even the vendors and the other hawkers who are aggrieved by the non-consideration of their objections. 12. The position as it stands today is that the entire Town Vending Plan submitted by the NDMC to the GNCTD has to be now approved by the Competent Authority in terms of Section 21 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. The said provision reads as under:

“21. Plan for street vending.— (1) Every local authority shall, in consultation with the planning aut