‘Elite mindset': HC junks Manimajra RWA plea against street vendors, imposes ₹1 lakh cost
Terming it a 'motivated attempt' to destabilise vendors, the court imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh—₹50,000 on each petitioner — to be deposited with the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for the welfare of street vendors and their families.
The ruling, delivered by a Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Meenakshi I Mehta, condemned the misuse of legal process to target livelihoods.
The petitioners had alleged that fruit sellers, hawkers, and other vendors were encroaching on roads, footpaths, and parks, obstructing traffic and harming their businesses. They relied on a 2019 High Court order against shopkeeper encroachments and submitted photos of golgappa and vegetable vendors — none of whom were party to the case.
Rejecting the plea, the bench upheld vendors' rights under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. Citing Supreme Court rulings in Gainda Ram v. MCD (2010) and Sodan Singh v. NDMC (1989), the court affirmed street vending as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g).
Calling out class bias, the judges observed, 'There is an elite class still following the Britishers, who looks down upon their own countrymen doing small business and treat them as if they are mafias.' India, they said, remains an agrarian society shaped by rural migration to cities, and the judiciary must rise above elitist impressions.
Noting that vendors can't be evicted without a proper five-yearly survey by the Town Vending Committee, the court acknowledged instances of misuse by shopkeepers and individuals falsifying records. It directed the Municipal Corporation to create a dedicated cell to curb such practices 'with integrity and dutifully.'
The court also ordered that fees collected from vendors be placed under a separate budget head and used exclusively for their welfare, including medical and insurance benefits.
(CWP No. 10327 of 2022)
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