Shillong, July 3: High Court of Meghalaya has appointed a special officer to address issues related to vending, during the hearing on the related PIL on Thursday.
The court directives are below
I. “Subhasis Chakrawarty, learned senior Advocate is appointed as Special Officer at an initial renumeration of Rs 75,000/- to be
paid by the State by 11th July, 2025.
(ii) Under the Special Officer and in consultation with the General
Secretary, Hawkers’ Association, the local and police authorities will prepare a list of authorised or licenced vendors which are stated to be around 349.
(iii) The other vendors vending goods in police bazar identified similarly as (ii) above will be treated as those without licence.
The Special Officer along with the General Secretary of the Association, the local and police authorities will see to it that
these unlicenced vendors do not vend any kind of goods in the above area.
(iv) The licenced vendors shall be allowed a limited number of days and a limited time each day, from 12.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. and from
7.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. to vend merchandise in the place they are vending now, subject to the undertaking given by the Association
General Secretary through the learned counsel that those licenced vendors shall not exceed the time limit and move out of the area
to ensure that there is no disruption in traffic flow or human movement. If there is breach, then the Special Officer along with
the local and police authorities shall not allow any vendor to sell merchandise in the said area.
(v) The General Secretary of the Association also undertakes to this Court and shall ensure that as and when the alternative vending
place is provided by the local authority to any vendor, he will
immediately shift. If he does not then he shall be liable to be
evicted from the place of vending immediately.
(vi) The other hawkers shall be free to make applications before the
appropriate authorities to obtain a valid licence which may be
considered by those authorities in accordance with law. On obtaining a report from those authorities regarding those
applications this Court will consider taking further action regarding them.
Above all, the Special Officer with his vast knowledge, experience, maturity and tact shall ensure that our orders in this public
interest litigation are implemented without any breach of peace or commission of any offence.
The Special Officer will file a report containing subreports by local and police authorities in this Court by the next returnable date of
the matter which is fixed on 5th August, 2025”.
During the hearing, the division bench comprising Chief Justice IP. Mukerji and
Judge W Diengdoh stated that an application was moved by Yobin, Advocate
on behalf of the Hawkers’ Association. It was alleged that in the guise of enforcing the court order dated 12th June, 2025, the local and police authorities were forcibly evicting hawkers from the police bazar area
without observance of the due process of law. This eviction drive is allegedly carried on without providing alternative vending space to
these hawkers. This allegation was denied in its entirety by Advocate General and the team of senior state counsels.
The government said alternative vending area has been allocated for the hawkers but they
refused to move from the police bazar area.
Advocate General also submitted that within a short time all the licenced vendors can be
accommodated in the new vending area.
