Bombay HC restrains BMC from evicting stall owners outside Vile Parle station

The HC on Wednesday directed BMC to not to take any coercive steps against the stalls till the next hearing on October 8.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from evicting licenced stalls outside Vile Parle (East) station.

The vegetable market outside Vile Parle (E) Station in Mumbai. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

A division bench of acting chief justice Naresh Patil and justice Girish Kulkarni was hearing a petition filed by Aadarsh Stall Holders Union, praying for directions to the BMC to not evict them.

In September, the BMC had issued eviction notices to the stalls based on a 2017 HC order that said hawkers should not be allowed within 150 metres of stations. The stall owners claimed that they had licence and were not hawkers, and that the eviction notice was not valid. The advocate for the union argued that the BMC had failed to differentiate between hawkers and stall owners. He further referred to a 2007 Supreme Court order which directed state governments to frame policies for hawkers. The state had then made a policy which excluded cobbler stalls, Aarey Sarita stalls and pucca stalls from the category of hawkers. It was also approved by the BMC’s standing committee in 2010.

The advocate also referred to another case involving stall owners on Linking Road in Bandra where the civic body had told the court that licenced stall owners do not fall in the category of hawkers.

The HC on Wednesday directed BMC to not to take any coercive steps against the stalls till the next hearing on October 8. The bench also asked the civic body to respond to the claims of the 46 licenced stall owners.