The Supreme Court has granted interim protection from eviction to 19000 odd street vendors in Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune in Maharashtra.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, taking in view the submissions made by the Counsel appearing for the respondent (Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) that the exercise to accommodate the 19792 street-vendors or 14000 and odd street-vendors was going on, ruled that the hawkers should not be evicted from their place of vending.
Status quo should be maintained till the completion of exercise regarding identification/notification of hawking and non-hawking zones, as per the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, it added.
Making an oral observation, the Bench said the hawkers should be treated with dignity and respect. They could not be evicted illegally, it added.
In October, 2023, the respondent No.1-Corporation sought at least six weeks time to complete the exercise under the Street Vendors Act.
In September, 2024, the Corporation apprised the Bench that the final list of street vendors (as on February 7, 2024), comprising 19,792 street vendors, was ready. However, due to financial constraints and limited resources, it needed more time to accommodate all 19,792 street vendors.
Noting that the exercise by the Corporation was still continuing, the Apex Court recently directed that status quo be maintained qua possession and functioning of street vendors until the exercise was completed.