Bombay HC refuses relief to hawkers operating near railway station

The Bombay High Court today refused to allow a group of hawkers to do business within 150 metres of any suburban railway station.

In an interim order, a division bench of justices A S Oka and R I Chagla refused to direct the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the local police not to evict around 150 hawkers from near Dadar railway station in the city.

The hawkers had contended in their petition that they have been selling flowers, incense and other articles of worship in the Dadar area for over three decades.

Recently the BMC and police started evicting them from the area citing a November 2017 high court order that prohibits hawking within 100 metres of religious sites and within 150 metres of educational institutes, hospital, markets and railway stations, the petition said.

However, in its order, the high court had made an exception for hawkers who sell only items of worship, the petition said.

The BMC lawyer argued that the site where the petitioners operated falls within the restricted 150-metre area near a railway station, so the exception won't apply to them.

Noting this, the judges said "considering the situation around these stations that remain crowded throughout the day, any interim relief cannot be granted," and posted the case for detailed hearing later this month.