Delhi High Court: In a case wherein a petition was filed against the eateries which were running in the residential area and were causing public nuisance, a Single Judge Bench of Prathiba M. Singh, J.* directed that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, with the help of the local police should conduct monthly inspections and if any party was found to be encroaching on any public road, such trader or shopkeeper should be liable to pay an on-spot fine of Rs. 10,000 and the same should be contributed to the welfare of the residents.
Background
The petitioner had filed the present petition seeking direction to the respondents to seal various eateries which were running in the residential area, were causing public nuisance, and disturbing the peace and calm of the residential colony. The petitioner submitted that the owners of the eateries and hawkers were using public footpaths and streets for placing big tandoors and other cooking apparatus relating to their eateries, which were causing inconvenience for the residents of the area, as also functioning illegally without following any fire safety or pollution norms, which possessed a great danger to the life and liberty of the residents residing in the vicinity. The Delhi Fire Service and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (‘MCD') submitted that the eateries would have to adhere to the norms prescribed and illegal encroachment of public land for parking vehicles or cooking apparatus was also not permitted. The inspection was carried out and the report showed that an attempt was made to clear up the encroachment on the public road, but the petitioner submitted that though, the encroachments were removed earlier; the same encroachments had come up again.
Analysis, Law, and Decision
The Court noted that there were several eateries and shops on the road which were operating in the area and some of them had not only encroached the footpath but also the public road. Therefore, the Court directed that such eateries and shops should not encroach upon the public space or place their counters, chairs, tables, chullas, etc., on the road and any party found to be indulging in such conduct would be liable to be penalized immediately, as repeated inspections would be impossible for the authorities. The Court further directed that all the eateries and shops which were operating on the road should abide by the norms which were fixed by the MCD and should ensure that public roads and footpaths were not occupied.
The Court further directed that the MCD, with the help of the local police should conduct monthly inspections, at least till one year, and periodically thereafter to make sure that the encroachments were not repeated. If any party was found to be encroaching on any public road, such trader or shopkeeper should be liable to pay an on-spot fine of Rs. 10,000 and the same should be contributed to the welfare of the residents. The Court directed that since the Residents Welfare Association (‘RWA') was yet to be constituted, until then the same was formed, the said fine should be deposited with the MCD and should be used for the maintenance of the local parks and the roads in the area. Upon the RWA being constituted, such fines should be contributed to the RWA.
[Puran Chand v. Delhi Fire Service, 2023 SCC OnLine Del 2586, decided on 4-5-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioner: Manan Aggarwal, Vinay Kumar, Advocates
For the Respondents: Ashutosh Gupta, ASC; Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Senior Counsel; Arun Pawar, Kartik Sharma, Mehak Rankawat, Amit Singh Chauhan, Siddharth Agarwal, Mayank Sharma, Advocates
*Judgment authored by: Justice Prathiba M. Singh