Delhi high court declares Nehru Place District Centre ‘no-hawking’, ‘no-vending’ zone

The Delhi HC has designated the Nehru Place District Centre as a no-hawking and no-vending zone, ordering 90 authorised vendors to relocate by October 12.

The Delhi High Court has declared the Nehru Place District Centre a “no hawking” and “no vending” zone, and directed 90 authorised vendors operating in the area to relocate to another earmarked area by October 12.

The court issued the order while dealing with a petition filed by Federation of Nehru Place Association, various vendors, and Kalkaji Civil Society, seeking various reliefs. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Dinesh Bhatt, in an order dated September 28 that was released on October 5, also granted the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) liberty to take action against and remove unauthorised vendors from the area.

“The 90 vendors mentioned in Annexure ‘A’ shall move to site ‘X’ by 12th October, 2026. It is made clear that TVC-II (town vending committee) after being constituted shall take a decision as to whether these vendors are entitled to Certificate of Vending or not and if so, the area where they would be vending. The said decision shall be taken within two months after the constitution of the TVC- II,” the court said in its order.

It added, “Insofar as the Nehru Place District Centre area, except the identified portion above as marked X, the entire Nehru Place District Centre is declared as a ‘No-hawking zone’ and ‘No-vending zone’. After 12th October, 2026, the MCD is free to take action and remove all unauthorized vendors.”

The court issued the order while dealing with a petition filed by Federation of Nehru Place Association, various vendors, and Kalkaji Civil Society, seeking various reliefs. While the petitions filed by vendors sought directions to permit them to peacefully vend, other petitions alleged wilful and deliberate disobedience of its decision to uphold the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA’s) decision to declare Nehru Place Centre as “no-hawking” zone.

In the petitions, it was asserted that there are more than 400 vendors, including the authorised 90, who are currently vending in the Nehru Place District Centre.