The
Bombay High Court on Monday came down heavily on the police and civic
authorities for their inability to find a solution for the illegal hawking
menace and asked if vendors would be allowed to put up stalls outside the
Mantralaya or the governor's house.
A
division bench of Justices M S Sonka and Kamal Khata said if the issue of
illegal hawkers and vendors was a recurring problem, a permanent solution is
required, and the authorities cannot claim to be helpless.
The court said there must be a stop, and it cannot
keep recurring blatantly.
It
also lamented the fact that the civic bodies and police authorities do not take
any action on citizens' complaints against illegal and unauthorised hawkers and
vendors.
"You
(authorities) want citizens to come and sit in court every day? This is sheer harassment
of people. This is complete lawlessness. The corporation does not look into
citizens' complaints, and the police do not. What should a common man do?"
the court said.
"Those
who want to abide by the law suffer. The entire state machinery has collapsed.
Brazenly, these unauthorised hawkers come. Let this happen in front of the
Mantralaya or the governor's house, then see how all this stops. You have all
the security there," the bench said.
Last year, the high court had taken suo motu (on its
own) cognisance of the issue of illegal and unauthorised hawkers and vendors in
the city.
Last
month, the court directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the
police to file a detailed affidavit about their action against illegal hawkers
and steps to prevent the problem.
On
Monday, BMC counsel Anil Singh and government pleader Purnima Kantharia,
appearing for the police, sought more time to file their affidavits.
Irked
by this, the bench said this was a serious matter, and if the authorities cannot
follow court orders, then the court should just close.
"Burn
the midnight oil and file an affidavit within a week," the court said,
posting the matter for further hearing on July 30.
The
bench sarcastically also asked if the Army should be called in, as the police
and civic authorities were unable to keep illegal hawkers and vendors at bay.
In
its order last month, the court had noted that hawkers and street vendors have
virtually taken over streets and bylanes, leaving no place for people to walk
on footpaths.
It
said in addition to haphazard parking, pedestrians were forced to navigate
between unauthorised hawkers and haphazardly parked vehicles.