The Meghalaya High Court has directed the Principal Secretary of Urban Affairs Department to constitute a committee of authorities responsible for regulation of traffic in Shillong city to specify the areas where street vending is permitted by law. The committee would also make an inventory of the vendors who were authorised to sell their goods in these authorised areas.
In an order passed today on a PIL filed by Philip Khrawbok Shati, the division bench of Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh said that the committee should also ascertain whether those who have been authorised are actually vending there or have sublet or parted with possession of those locations to third parties who are operating without licence or authorisation.
“Thereafter, areas which are not authorised to be used for vending should be carefully identified and demarcated. Thereafter on visit and inspection of sites, a detailed inventory should be made of persons who are vending in those unauthorised areas without licence. The report should also contain a statement in some detail as to the extent or percentage of the road surface occupied by unauthorised vendors and the extent to which it is interfering with the traffic movement,” the High Court said in its order.
The court also directed that these details should be included in the report to be prepared as per the court order passed on May 14. It also said that the report should positively be filed by February 28, 2025. The next hearing on the matter will be held in the first week of March, 2025.
It may be noted that during the hearing of the PIL today, the High Court observed that there is more than one administrative authority in charge of regulation of traffic movement in a district.
Giving example, the High Court stated that in a substantial part of Shillong which is described as the European part, traffic is regulated by the municipal authority and the police – the police being responsible for management of traffic whereas, the municipality indirectly regulates the area for movement of traffic by granting licenses for conduct of street business. The court also observed that there is more than one authority in other areas including the districts.
