Lucknow, Feb 4 In a relief to street vendors, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday directed the Lucknow Municipal Corporation not to remove any existing street vendor’s shop until the town vending committee completes a city-wide survey and issues vending certificates, provided such shops do not obstruct traffic.
The Lucknow bench of the high court also directed the civic body to prepare a vending plan and fixed the next hearing in the matter after three months.
A division bench comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice A K Kumar Chaudhary passed the order on a petition filed by Amar Kumar Sonkar and other street vendors from the Aminabad area.
The bench observed that until the survey is completed in accordance with law, the vending scheme is approved by the state government and vending certificates are issued, eligible street vendors would continue to enjoy statutory protection under Section 3(3) of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
The court directed the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) to treat all existing street vendors, including the petitioners, strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
The petitioners submitted that, though the survey had been completed, vending certificates had not been issued, and they were being removed from their existing locations, which was contrary to the objectives of the Act.
During the hearing, the LMC informed the court that a vending plan had been prepared but was yet to receive approval from the state government.
The court held that without state government approval, the vending plan had no legal validity and noted that the planning, survey and certificate issuance processes under the Act had remained pending for the past 11 years.
