While hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on October 23, regarding the rise in illegal hawking in the city, the Bombay High Court (HC) ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to remove these hawkers from the area between Flora Fountain and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and to keep an eye on the situation for two weeks.
According to the court, the civic body's initiatives could be duplicated throughout the city if they are successful. The court further mandated that the concerned additional commissioner of police make sure civic officials were protected by armed police when they removed the hawkers. The bench comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata was hearing the PIL.
The BMC must remove them repeatedly if they return, the judge said during the hearing, highlighting the need for hawkers to be removed repeatedly. The civic body's earlier attempts were criticised by the bench. In a statement, Justice Gadkari stated that the officials are intentionally ignoring earlier directives or failing to understand simple instructions... Simply put, how many hawkers do you wish to keep safe, and which hawkers from whose area do you want to keep safe?
The court instructed the BMC officers in attendance to examine the area between CSMT and Flora Fountain before noon and provide a report on whether they were adhering to the court's previous directives about the hawkers' removal.
Judge Gadkari said that this is total lawlessness. The hawkers are still there in the end, even after the court issued numerous rulings and governmental authorities filed replies. It is impossible for the BMC to regulate hawkers. It is legal for pedestrians to use the walkways. The BMC has repeatedly failed to follow our directives.
The BMC jumped in and seized the items of unlicensed hawkers shortly after the high court's directives were issued. In defiance of the court's orders, the police officers who had initially been with them were later observed walking away from the place and leaving the civic officials to their own devices.
Police personnel were overheard asking to remain by Parikshak Patil, a representative of the BMC's encroachment department. And a policeman replied that he had somewhere else to be. The police officer said to a civic official that if you do what you have to do, we are going to do what we have to do.
Parikshak Patil said that he attended the hearing on October 23 and listened to everything the judges had to say. For this reason, they asked the police to stay until they finished their assignment, but police officials headed out.
Hawkers were observed displaying licences from the BMC licensing department at certain areas. Some of these hawkers had their items confiscated by BMC officials, but others were unaffected.
Patil explained that they cannot seize all the goods of licensed hawkers. These merchants are permitted to set up a 1 × 1 m booth. Anything that was outside of this allowed area has been seized. Officials from the licensing department will stop by these booths today to recheck their licences and provide an IR (inspection report). Action will be taken against the stall owner if it is discovered that the stall exceeds the allowed space.