HC orders North MCD to keep hawkers out of Library Road crockery market

New Delhi: Remarking that civic officials extort money from street vendors to allow them to operate in a no hawking zone, the Delhi high court on Tuesday directed the city police to keep a strict vigil against squatters on the Library Road Crockery Market in old Delhi

New Delhi: Remarking that civic officials extort money from street vendors to allow them to operate in a no hawking zone, the Delhi high court on Tuesday directed the city police to keep a strict vigil against squatters on the Library Road Crockery Market in old Delhi.

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A bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh also directed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to put up permanent and prominent display boards within two weeks to make it clear that the area is a no hawking zone.

The court’s order and remarks came after the counsel for the MCD, Jyoti Taneja, tried to justify the non-existence of boards displaying that the market area as a non-hawking zone by pointing out that they have already filed an affidavit to that effect.

However, the bench remarked, “You cannot ask the citizen to fish out your affidavit..How do people get to know if you don’t put up the display boards? We know how these hawkers keep coming again and again…They are paying hafta to your officers.”

The city police’s counsel Pankaj Yadav, on a direction by the court to keep strict vigil against the street vendors, had also said that there were no display boards to let people know about the no-hawking zone.

On Tuesday, the bench dismissed an application by the vegetable vendors’ association, which had sought to be heard in the petition, observing that the vendors have not been able to show any document that permitted them to squat in the no hawking zone. It also said that there is no dispute to the fact that the Library Road is a no-vending zone.

The application was filed in a pending plea by the Crockery Merchants Association which had contended that despite the Library Road crockery market in Azad market being declared as a no-hawking zone, squatting and hawking activities were still continuing with the civic body and the Delhi Police turning a blind eye to it.

The association, through senior advocate Sanjeev Ralli, had given photographs to the court showing that a vegetable market was being run in front of their shops.

On April 8, the court had taken note of the pictures and said that even though the market claims to run only in the morning, it is evident from the photographs that it is not the case. “The photographs show that the vegetable market is operational while the crockery shops are open... In fact, the photographs placed on record by the petitioner carry a time-stamp declaring the time when the photographs were taken, which appears to be around 11.30 am,” the court had said in its order.

The court had also asked the Delhi Police to ensure that unauthorised vending, hawking and squatting does not take place in the no-hawking zone and the SHO of the Bara Hindu Rao police station should be held personally responsible in case hawking is not “permanently stopped”.

It had also expressed surprise as to how the civic body can issue licenses in no hawking zones after the police counsel contended that some hawkers claimed to have licenses from the North MCD.

On Tuesday, advocate Taneja, appearing for the municipal body, told the court that action has been taken along with the local police and all temporary encroachments have been removed from the area.

The court, while dismissing the plea of the vegetable vendors, posted the matter for further hearing on September 9.