Encroachments on National Highways obstructing hospital access must be removed under applicable laws.

1. Petitioner is a hospital situated in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. It seeks a writ of mandamus to remove the encroachers, the bunk shops and other temporary sheds used for conducting illegal business on the property of the National Highway Authority adjacent to the hospital.

2. Petitioner alleges that several illegal street vendors have set up their stalls in front of the hospital, virtually blocking or restricting the free ingress and egress of patients, doctors, staff and management of the hospital apart from causing traffic congestion. The obstructions are, according to the petitioner, resulting in accidents, especially when ambulances come to the hospital carrying patients requiring emergency treatment. Petitioner also alleges that various vehicles parked in front of the bunk shops, apart from the illegal businesses being conducted by them and the encroachments made into the pavements of the National Highway, cause a serious threat to the free traffic movement on the National Highway.

3. Though complaints were filed before the Regional Transport Officer and the National Highway Authority, the illegal street vendors have not been evicted. Petitioner alleges that even if the vendors are evicted, the Corporation and other statutory authorities fail to remove the bunk shops, and therefore, immediately after such eviction, other persons start occupying the sheds and bunk shops and continue the business. Petitioner alleges that whatever little actions have been initiated against the street vendors, they have all been ineffective. Petitioner also alleges that the Association of Vyapari Vyavasayi had even called for a total strike on 28.02.2023 and despite all these, the police are lethargic and have failed to act in accordance with law. Petitioner further alleges that the property of the National Highway is excluded from the Scheme of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act , 2014 (for short 'the Act'), and therefore, there is a bounden duty upon the statutory authorities to remove the bunk shops and sheds put up on the National Highway.

4. A statement has been filed on behalf of the Corporation of Thiruvananthapuram stating that the food stalls and other bunks situated in and around the hospital premises create difficulties for bringing patients, especially in times of emergency. It was further stated that apart from the stalls and the bunk shops, the hospital has not provided any two - wheeler parking even for its staff or the patients and therefore, those vehicles are also parked in front of the hospital, which contributes to the obstruction for the smooth ingress and egress. The statement further alleges that under the Kerala Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood Regulation of Street Vending and Licensing) Scheme, 2019, institutions such as Secretariats, Courts, District Collectorates, Hospitals, etc., are of utmost prominence and priority with 50 metres from the entrance of such institutions declared as vending free zones. The stalls functioning within the said limit of the petitioner hospital are, therefore, liable to be removed, and the respondents are taking steps by issuing notices to the encroachers.

5. In the counter affidavit filed by respondents 8 and 9, who are two of the alleged street vendors, it is stated that they are entitled for protection under the Act and that they have been conducting their business for the last more than two decades. They denied the allegation that street vendors have encroached into the National Highway or that they are causing any inconvenience to the public or to the traffic. According to them, they depend for their livelihood in the businesses