Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection From Eviction To Over 19000 Maharashtra Street Vendors

The Supreme Court recently granted interim protection from eviction to 19000 odd street vendors in Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune in Maharashtra.

The Court said that until the exercise of identifying/notifying the hawking and non-hawking zones is contemplated in accordance with the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, status quo be maintained and the hawkers not be evicted from their place of vending.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order, stating,

"The exercise to accommodate the 19792 street-vendors or 14000 and odd street-vendors, as pointed out by the learned counsel appearing for the respondent-Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, is continuing. Until the exercise is completed, the parties shall maintain status quo with respect to possession and functioning of the street-vendors."

Reportedly, the Court also orally observed that hawkers should be treated with dignity and respect and that they cannot be evicted illegally.

Briefly put, in October, 2023, the respondent No.1-Corporation had sought atleast 6 weeks' time to complete the exercise under the Street Vendors Act. A year later, in September, the Corporation informed that the final list of street vendors (on 07.02.2024), comprising 19,792 street vendors, was ready. However, due to financial constraints and limited resources, it needed more time to accommodate all the 19,792 street vendors.

Recently, noting that the exercise by the Corporation was still continuing, the Court directed that status quo be maintained qua possession and functioning of street vendors until the exercise is completed.

Advocate Zain Haider appeared and argued for the petitioner.

Case Title: MAHARASHTRA PHERIWALA KRANTI MAHASANGH VERSUS PIMPRI-CHINCHWAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION & ORS., SLP(C) No. 5144/2023