Delhi High Court: A Division Bench of Manmohan and Saurabh Banerjee, JJ. held that the Government was well within its right to reconstitute the Town Vending Committees (TVCs) as the vendors only had a right to be considered for nomination in these TVCs and had no legal or vested right to be nominated as members of these TVCs.
Background
The present writ petition was filed to quash a notification by which Town Vending Committees (TVCs) were constituted in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). The petitioners were NGOs/ Associations of street vendors who were aggrieved by their removal from the membership of TVCs as non-government organization members or Associations of Street Vendor Members.
Petitioners stated that they were nominated as members of the various TVCs constituted by the Government of NCT of Delhi under the provisions of Street Vendors Act (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. Further, it was contended that the constitution of the TVCs was for the purpose of the survey and identification of the street vendors, which was to be done in six months as per Rule 13 of Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. However, the petitioners stated that the committee did not survey the street vendors.
Further, it was stated that through another notification, the TVCs were reconstituted, and the petitioners were removed from their membership without giving any reason or any notice or any opportunity of hearing.
Submissions on behalf of the Petitioners
Counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners could not have been removed without following the procedure prescribed in Rule 16 of the Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017.
Analysis, Law, and Decision
The Court held that the petitioners only had a right to be considered for nomination to the TVCs, but they had no legal or vested right to be nominated as members of TVCs. Further, being nominated once to the TVCs would not mean that the petitioners had a fundamental or legal right to continue to be re-nominated as members of the TVCs in perpetuity. The Court further held that the Government was well within its right to reconstitute TVCs.
Further, the Court opined that Rule 16 of the Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017 had no application to the facts of the present case as the TVCs had been reconstituted and it was not a case of removal of members from the TVCs.
The Court dismissed the petition with cost of Rs. 10,000 which had to be paid to the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee.
[Janodaya Ekta Samiti v. Govt. (NCT of Delhi), 2022 SCC OnLine Del 4459, decided on 15-12-2022]
Advocate who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioners: Advocate Ramesh Kr. Mishra.