The Gujarat High Court has pulled up the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for seizing the carts and goods of street vendors who were selling non-vegetarian items.
As many as 25 such street vendors had approached the High Court against the move. Hearing their plea, the HC instructed the AMC to consider the cases ‘expeditiously’ if approached by the petitioners within 24 hours for the release of their goods.
Hearing a petition by 25 street vendors alleging that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation had seized their carts after councillors objected to the sale of non-vegetarian items, the Gujarat High Court slammed the AMC and ordered it to consider the cases “as expeditiously as possible” if the petitioners approached it within 24 hours for the release of their goods.
“What is your problem?,” the court said addressing the government council, adding that if “you don’t like non-veg food, that is your outlook.”
“How can you decide what I eat outside? Tomorrow you will decide what I should eat outside the house? Call the corporation commissioner and ask him what he is doing. How do you dare indiscriminately pick up people?” said Justice Biren Vaishnav.
“Tomorrow they will say I should not have sugarcane juice because it causes diabetes? Or coffee because it is bad for health?” the court said.
Further criticising the body’s action asked whether the action was taken because “suddenly because somebody in power thinks that this is what they want to do?”
The court was responding to submissions from the petitioners’ counsel, Ronith Joy, that their carts were seized without any official order and as a result of negative positions taken by civic bodies in Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, and Ahmedabad, as well as remarks last month from Rajkot Mayor that carts selling non-vegetarian food hurt religious sentiments.
The government counsel was also representing the Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Housing and Urban Development Department, who was named as a respondent in the petition.
After being heard in the first session, the matter was continued in the second half, with the court instructing the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s standing counsel, Satyam Chhaya, to appear before it.
Following instructions, counsel for the Corporation stated in the post-lunch session that the petitions were filed under the mistaken impression that there was a drive to remove non-veg food from the streets. Instead, he claimed that the stalls were removed because they were impeding traffic and obstructing pedestrians.
Justice Biren Vaishnav shot back
“Let us be very honest. Around the Vastrapur Lake, there were hawkers selling eggs and omelettes, overnight you decide because the party in power says that you don’t want to sell eggs; will you pick them up and take them away?”
The counsel insisted that the authority was not targeting vendors of non-vegetarian food. He requested that the Court consider the cases on their merits, arguing that such vendors would not be protected under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
He also stated that if the petitioners approach the Corporation within 24 hours for the release of their goods and materials, their cases would be considered as quickly as possible in accordance with the policy and the law.
Justice also asked the government counsel to ensure that the corporation commissioner remains present during the next hearing. “How do you dare to indiscriminately pick up people like this?” asked Justice Vaishnav.
