Shillong, June 13: The Meghalaya High Court has directed the State to file an affidavit showing action taken in Meghalaya State Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2023.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh while adjourning hearing of two PILs filed on the issue till July 3, said, “By 1st July, 2025, the respondents -State shall file an affidavit showing action taken in terms of our order and the above scheme and circulate a copy thereof to the Advocate-on-Record for the petitioner.”
It also directed the State to deal with the statements made in the affidavit filed by the petitioner.
The bench stated there is some substance in the statements made in that affidavit and said, “It appears that although the government has taken steps for registration of authorised vendors, identification and allocation of vending zones with a plan for erection of several hundred stalls and adopted the policy to relocate these vendors to those vending zones, the scheme, christened Meghalaya State Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2023 has not been implemented.”
“As a result, the problem of illegal occupation of road space and footpath and congestion continues. Special danger is caused to school going students who are unable to use the footpath and are compelled to walk on the road exposing themselves to traffic accidents,” it also added.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) involves identifying street vending areas, relocating areas permitted to be used for street vending, regulation of traffic in general, allocating and relocating parking spaces, clearance of as much road area as possible to allow free movement of vehicles and overall implementation of policies and plans to make the capital of Meghalaya -Shillong region, a modern, clean and well administered city.
