Delhi HC asks DDA to include Street Vendor Act regulations in Delhi’s Master Plan 2021

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court issued directions to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in response to a petition seeking the abolition of certain sections of the Delhi Master Plan 2021 and the addition of the sections based on the Street Vendors (Regulation of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, to make sure that street vendors also get space in the Delhi's Master Plan.

After hearing Advocate Kawalpreet Kaur's submission, the bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Thursday requested a response from the DDA and set the matter for January 11, 2022. 

Delhi HC directs DDA to include regulations under Street Vendor Act in Delhi’s Master Plan

The petitioner, the National Hawkers Federation (NHF), which is an association of street vendors, asked the Delhi HC to quash and set aside the limited sections of the Master Plan of 2021 that are in direct violation of Sections 3 and 21 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. The plea further said that the present regulations in the Act established by Parliament in reference to street vendors and hawking are not taken into account in the Delhi Master Plan of 2021.

The petition further states that a nearly six-decade effort had been made through court litigation, particularly in Delhi, and public agitation, culminating in the enactment of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act in 2014.

The Act aims to protect the livelihoods of street vendors and provide them with a safe environment in which to conduct business, and emphasises the government's responsibility to protect these small businesses' rights to make a decent livelihood and to give them appropriate credit for their contributions to society.

The DDA approved the Master Plan for Delhi 2021 in 2007, according to the petitioner. The Parliament Of India had introduced the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, in 2014. Amendments to the Master Plan for 2021 were made in 2014 over a period of time, however, the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is not mentioned in the Master Plan for 2021.

(With ANI Inputs)

Image: ANI, Representative