Exemption from mobility conditions for street vendors categorized under 'Food/Snack with gas cylinder/fire' holding Certificates of Vending.

The Petitioner, a street vendor holding a Certificate of Vending (CoV) under the category ‘Food/Snack with gas cylinder/fire’ (No. URI 3853167), approached the High Court seeking a writ to allow him to vend peacefully at his designated spot in Kashmere Gate, New Delhi.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) contended that the Petitioner’s current location was a "no-vending" zone.

The Petitioner further sought exemption from Condition No. 11 of his CoV, which restricts mobile vendors from staying in one spot for more than 30 minutes.

1. Whether the Petitioner can be permitted to vend at a site deemed a "no-vending" zone by the MCD.

2. Whether a vendor in the 'Food/Snack with gas cylinder/fire' category should be exempted from the restricted duration of stay (Condition No. 11) stipulated in the CoV.

Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, specifically Section 21, which pertains to the formulation of vending plans by the Town Vending Committee (TVC).

Judicial precedent set in Mohd Badruddin v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi & Ors., W.P.(C) 19391/2025, which established that vendors preparing food using gas cylinders are practically unable to comply with short-duration stay requirements (Condition No. 11), thereby warranting conditional exemptions to such restrictions.

The Court recognized a practical conflict between the Petitioner’s license category (food preparation requiring fire) and the mobility restriction in the CoV. Reasoning that a vendor cooking with a gas cylinder cannot realistically vacate a spot every 30 minutes, the Court followed the precedent in Mohd Badruddin to waive Condition No. 11.

Regarding the location dispute, the Court reconciled the Petitioner's right to vend with the MCD's zoning regulations by directing the Assistant Commissioner of the MCD to identify and allocate a specific alternate space. The Court balanced the Petitioner’s livelihood with public interest by imposing strict safety (small/medium cylinders), hygiene (dustbin usage), and public order (no pedestrian obstruction) conditions.

The Court disposed of the petition by directing the MCD to identify a specific vending space for the Petitioner, after which the Petitioner must move there immediately; this relief is provisional and subject to future plans formulated by the Town Vending Committee–II under Section 21 of the Street Vendors Act.