Division bench pulls up state for ignoring orders to bring additional force to control hawking violations
Illegal hawkers Bhaji Market Gully, in Borivli West on December 3
If you move out of Churchgate and go towards the suburbs like Andheri, Malad, Kandivli, Borivli, or, for that matter, name any station, there is absolutely no road free of hawkers. Let alone driving; you cannot even walk on the roads, observed Justice Kamal Khata of Bombay High Court while hearing a Suo Motu petition addressing the issue of hawkers menace in Mumbai. The division bench also came down heavily on the state for failing to maintain law and order after BMC cleared the streets of hawkers. The division bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justice A. S. Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata, heard the Sum Motu petition for 2.5 hours straight post-lunchbreak.
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‘Hawkers are not licensed’
Counsel representing the Bombay BAR Association, which is an intervenor in the Suo Motu petition, informed the court, “None of the hawkers in Mumbai are licenced. In order to issue licenses, the Town Vending Committee (TVC) needs to be formulated, which then issues licences. The licences previously issued to the hawkers have also expired. At present, no hawker is licened in Mumbai.”
Bhaji Market Gully a 5.20 am, on December 1 (right) Illegal hawkers flood the stretch around 9 pm the same day. Pics/Prasun Choudhari
Justice Gadkari, while hearing the matter, rapped the hawker unions, who had tagged along their application to be heard along with the Suo Motu Petition. Justice Gadkri said, “Stop doing business if you don't have a license. The common man walking on the street does not have fundamental rights? If you are having fundamental rights under Article 21, the common man is also having fundamental rights under the same article. You cannot just tell us that your rights are being violated and ignore the rights of a common man.” Justice Kamal Khata also came down heavily on the state for not enforcing law and order.
Police have failed
“No action is taken at all in Colaba from your end. Zero action is taken. It is a clear-cut eye wash. Why do you not call for additional force even after previous court orders directing you to bring in additional force if required? Your beat marshals are doing nothing.” Adding to this, Justice Gadkari also questioned the state, asking, “What is the use of beat marshals if hawkers are sitting right in front of them?”
Justice Gadkari, pointing out some petitions filed by shop owners whose shop entrances have been blocked by hawkers, stated, “There are multiple petitions being filed in this court by shop owners. These shop owners have a licence to do their businesses, but these hawkers block the entrance of these shops.”
The BAR Association counsel also pointed out, “Even if some hawkers have a licence, they cannot just set up their stalls anywhere. No hawker can set up a stall in ‘NO HAWKING ZONE’ irrespective of being a licensed or unlicensed one.” BMC senior counsel said, “We (BMC) have forwarded to the police a list of hawkers with license and their destination of license.”
The Bench also set aside all the petitions tagged along with the Suo Motu PIL, which were with concern with the Town Vending Committee (TVC) formation to be heard separately, citing the matter of election results of TVC is pending with the Supreme Court. The bench heard all the petitions separately one by one on Thursday and determined which ones are in connection with the TVC formation, untagging them from the Suo Motu petition for hearing separately one by one in January.
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