Shillong, Aug 29: The Meghalaya High Court has directed the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) to carry out a thorough survey of street vendors in Laitumkhrah area within three weeks.
A division bench of Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh was disappointed with the report submitted by the board that 122 plus 48 street vendors are operating in the area without any licence.
“The facts which emerge from this report do not project a good picture at all,” the court said.
In the survey the SMB has been asked to make an inventory of all street vendors in the area with full details that include their names, merchandise sold and the area occupied by them as well as the period for which such occupation is continuing.
The court said till further orders, not a single additional vendor is allowed to trade in that area. To prevent such act, a strict vigil has to be maintained, it said.
The SMB has been directed to consider all pending applications before it grants certificate of vending and to consider applications in accordance with law within eight weeks.
“This would include the 22 vendors whom the Board considers as eligible under the provisions of the scheme provided a proper application in accordance with law has been made by each of them,” the court said.
The court also allowed the board to give an opportunity to those vendors who are eligible but have not made applications or who do not have licences to apply and to process them in accordance with law.
At the same time, the SMB along with the administration will identify a suitable place for relocation of licensed vendors, the court directed.
Further, the State and the Board have been directed to file a joint or independent report before the next hearing of the PIL schedules after eight weeks.
Earlier during the hearing, the SMB quoted a survey of street vendors carried out between January 12 and 16, 2024. According to the report, none of the street vendors in Laitumkhrah possesses any certificate of vending or a vending licence.
The board told the court that out of 122 only 22 vendors are “eligible under the provisions of the scheme” but do not possess any licence. However, it said that they are “eligible for it”.
The court said it is not clear what the board means but it has stated “additionally 48 vendors claimed themselves as street vendors”.
