The Gujarat High Court on Thursday has observed that Ahmedabad civic authorities cannot prohibit street vendors of meat kebabs and other similar snacks from selling their products on the streets of the Gujarat city.
Hearing a petition by the street vendors, the bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav observed people can’t be prevented from eating what they want, and if someone does not like non-vegetarian food then it is their point of view, and what people eat outside is for them to decide.
The Commissioner of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) was asked to be present before the Court, while the bench remarked that, just because somebody is in power it does not mean they will decide what people are going to eat tomorrow outside their houses. “Later, they will come and tell that one should not consume sugarcane juice for the reason that it might cause diabetes or they might even say that coffee is bad for health,” Justice Vaishnav said.
The present petition was filed by 20 Ahmedabad street vendors to challenge the non-implementation of Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014. The petitioners are those people who run egg carts/stalls and earn a living by selling eggs on the street side. Few of them sell cooked non-vegetarian food ranging from poultry to seafood, etc. Not all of the petitioners sell non-veg food, some sell fruits and vegetables as well to support their livelihood.
Also Read: Delhi court grants bail to Sharjeel Imam in Jamia violence case
The petitioners submitted that it is an inhuman act by the respondents to prevent the petitioners from continuing their trade and is discriminatory and arbitrary violating their right under the Article 21 of the Constitution, which provides for right to earn a living. Further the seizure of carts and laaris by AMC, State of Gujarat is also challenged by the petitioners saying the act on behalf of the respondents is unjust and illegal.
The AMC in its submission said the drive was undertaken only for the purpose that it is hazardous to health and harmful for the environment to sell non-vegetarian food on the streets.