MUMBAI: What steps are being taken to remove rows of unauthorized and unlicensed street vendors from the "already congested Hill Road", Bombay high court on Thursday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and directed it to undertake and complete the exercise with police assistance if necessary, to avoid any law and order situation.
“Hill Road in Banda is famous for many things," said Justices Gautam Patel and Kamal Khata. “One of those is the periodic removal by the BMC of precisely such persons and this is invariably followed, within no less than 48 hours, with the reemergence of these very vendors."
The HC directed, "Now the BMC must make its annual pilgrimage to Hill Road and complete this exercise."
The HC was hearing a petition filed by two members of a society for removal of unlicensed vendors from a public road outside the society premises.
The HC said the society will have to be joined as a party. The two men in the petition filed through advocate Neel Gala, had made the State, BMC, H/West ward assistant commissioner, other civic officers and the police commissioner of Mumbai as well as senior police officer of Bandra police station as party respondents.
Advocate Aruna Savla appeared for the society before the bench.
The HC in its order said, “We do not expect to hear mindless opposition from the society about this. No action is proposed against anyone in the society. In fact, this petition is for the benefit of the society and very probably ought to have been filed by the society in the first place."
The HC heard Mayur Khandeparkar counsel for the petitioners too briefly.
“Obviously the BMC is not a stranger either to Hill Road or to what it needs to do on Hill Road," Justice Patel said while dictating the order in open court.
“There is no question of giving notice to these persons. They have no rights in the public land on which they have begun to vend wares in an unlicensed and unauthorized manner," the HC stressed.
The court also said altercations can be expected in a civic demolition drive and the BMC may arrange for proper police assistance and protection from the Bandra police authorities.
The HC posted the matter to May 2 for compliance.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.Swati Deshpande is Senior editor at The Times of India, Mumbai, w...
Read MoreSwati Deshpande is Senior editor at The Times of India, Mumbai, where she has been covering courts for over a decade. She is passionate about law and works towards enlightening people about their statutory, legal and fundamental rights. She makes it her job to decipher for the public the truth, be it in an intricate civil dispute or in a gruesome criminal case.
Read Less