Delhi HC Directs Official To Identify Site For Two Food Vendors, Allowing Small-Cylinder Vending There Subject To TVC-II Decision

In brief

The question

Whether the petitioners, holding CoVs for food/snack vending, should be permitted to vend peacefully at a site identified by the MCD

The court held

The Court disposed of the petition by directing the petitioners to appear before the Assistant Commissioner, Central Zone, Ward S-60, on 27 November 2026, at 2:30 p.m., for identification of a vending site.

It also directed

Once a site was identified, they could vend there peacefully, subject to the stated CoV conditions and safeguards.

The directions remain subject to TVC-II’s decision and any vending plan under Section 21 of the 2014 Act; no vested rights may be claimed.

01Facts

The petitioners held Certificates of Vending (CoVs) for food/snack vending using a gas cylinder or fire in Central Zone, Ward S-60.

p. 1

They alleged that the police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were preventing them from vending.

p. 1

No photographs of their vending sites were filed because, according to counsel, the petitioners were not vending anywhere.

p. 1

The petition was brought under Article 226 of the Constitution

p. 1

02Issues

i.Whether the petitioners, holding CoVs for food/snack vending, should be permitted to vend peacefully at a site identified by the MCD

pp. 1–2

ii.Whether that permission should be subject to the CoV conditions, additional safeguards, and any subsequent decision or vending plan of the Town Vending Committee-II (TVC-II)

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03Law Applied

The Court exercised its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to address the petitioners’ grievance

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It applied the conditions in the petitioners’ CoVs, including compliance with applicable vending zones and periods, cleanliness and public-health requirements, avoidance of obstruction to pedestrians and traffic, and restrictions on unauthorised activity and structures.

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It also made the directions subject to the Delhi Street Vendors Livelihood Protection and Street Vending Regulation Scheme, 2019, and to a vending plan that TVC-II may formulate under Section 21 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

pp. 3–5

The order does not identify or apply any judicial precedent.

Provisions in the judgment · 1 · Linked ones open on LawLens

Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 Section 21

04Reasoning

Because the petitioners held CoVs but had not filed photographs showing an existing vending site, the Court directed the Assistant Commissioner to identify a site rather than immediately authorising vending at a location of the petitioners’ choice.

pp. 1–2

The Court permitted vending at the identified site subject to the CoV conditions and additional safeguards suited to food vending with a gas cylinder: use of only a small cylinder, confinement to a particular space, maintenance of cleanliness and a nearby dustbin, and no construction or transfer of the provisional CoVs to third parties.

pp. 2–4

The Court further limited the effect of its directions by making them subject to TVC-II’s decision and any vending plan made under Section 21, without conferring vested rights.

p. 5