Delhi HC Keeps Vendor Out Of Crowded Sarojini Nagar Market, Allows Mobile Vending Elsewhere In Colony Pending Site Allocation

The petitioner sought permission to vend at Opposite Shop No. 121, Vegetable Market, Sarojini Nagar, relying on a provisional Certificate of Vending (CoV) and a survey receipt identifying that location.

NDMC confirmed that the petitioner had been surveyed and issued a provisional CoV for vending in the Sarojini Nagar market area, but stated that a final vending site would be allocated after approval and notification of the vending plan.

The Market Association disputed that the petitioner was vending at the claimed site and produced photographs showing crowding in the market.

The petitioner relied on Section 12 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

The petitioner invoked Section 12 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, but the judgment does not set out or apply a detailed interpretation of that provision.

The Court proceeded on the basis that the petitioner’s provisional CoV identified Sarojini Nagar generally, while the final vending site remained subject to the vending plan and a specific allocation by the competent authority.

It also made the relief subject to standard vending conditions, including compliance with the vending period and zone determined by the Town Vending Committee (TVC) or local body, and non-obstruction of pedestrian or vehicular movement.

The provisional CoV specified Sarojini Nagar generally and did not allocate a particular site; although the survey receipt recorded the location where the petitioner had been surveyed, the Court found that the claimed spot had not been specifically allotted to him.

The photographs showed substantial congestion and a vending setup occupying pedestrian space, leading the Court to decline permission to vend inside the market pending the TVC-2 vending plan and a specific site decision.

To balance the petitioner’s ability to vend with congestion and pedestrian access concerns, the Court permitted him to operate as a mobile vendor outside the market but within Sarojini Nagar colony, subject to the stated conditions.

In the interim, he may vend as a mobile vendor outside the market but within Sarojini Nagar colony, subject to the standard conditions; if he complies, he is not to be disturbed.

The petition and pending applications were disposed of accordingly.