2 min readMumbaiMar 23, 2026 12:55 PM IST
The Bombay High Court Monday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to undertake a thorough verification of all hawkers and their helpers in Mumbai.
A division bench of Justices Ajay S Gadkari and Kamal R Khata passed the ruling on a batch of pleas raising concerns over unauthorised hawkers in the Maharashtra capital.
The court noted, “The BMC and police shall immediately undertake a thorough verification of the identity of all persons, including those alleged to be Bangladeshis or non-Indian residents, nationals, who operate stalls or carry on vending or hawking activities or work as assistants or helpers of such stallholders, vendors or hawkers. In the event any person is found to be an illegal immigrant, appropriate action shall be taken in accordance with law, including steps for repatriation by the competent authorities.”
The HC further said, “Any failure to undertake the necessary action in this regard shall entail personal liability on the part of all concerned officers.”
The bench also declined the request of the lawyer representing hawkers to extend the earlier stay granted on the implementation of the Street Vendors Act for another two weeks for them to challenge the high court order before the Supreme Court.
“As we have recorded in the foregoing paragraphs of the judgement, that it is due to the continuous legal proceedings adopted by various petitioners, the implementation of the Street Vendors Act could not take place till today. It is a fact on record that even after passing of judgement in Azad Hawkers case, till date, the guidelines and all directions issued by this court in various cases are not complied with. We are not inclined to stay the implementation of the same order. The prayer is rejected,” the bench stated.
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