T.Nagar hawkers move HC against eviction

The Madras High Court today issued a notice to concerned civil and police authorities on a petition by an association of hawkers in T.Nagar area of the city against their eviction.
When the petition seeking to restrain the authorities from interfering with their 'peaceful' business activities came up for hearing, acting Chief Justice Satish K.Agnihotri and Justice M.M.Sundresh ordered issue of the notice.
In their petition, 'Kizhakku Pagudhi Usman Salai Sirukadai Vyaparigal Sangam' (East Usman Road Hawkers Association) said its 33 members had been at the receiving end of raids and seizures by police and corporation authorities.
They could not be evicted from the area as the recent Central Act - Street Vendors Protection of Liveliood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014 - had given them a statutory right to hawk on main roads.

Referring to the alternative accommodation and a shopping complex built for rehabilitating the street vendors of Pondy Bazaar, the petitioner-association said traders on Usman Road had not been given any such facilities.
In the event of their eviction by force, they should be allotted shops in either Pondy Bazaar Commercial Complex or in any other complex proposed to be built to accommodate them, the petitioner said.
The association said its members were doing business for nearly 25 years in T.Nagar, a busy commercial area, and added they had fought several rounds of litigation to safeguard their rights.