The National Hawkers Federation on Wednesday submitted a representation to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), in an anti-encroachment campaign launched after the killing of one’s son Tapan Parmar, which saw street vendors evicted from various areas of the city. Former BJP corporator.
A representation signed by several street vendors, the drive is said to be “in violation of the principles of criminal jurisprudence reinforced by the Supreme Court”.
The representation said, “We are writing to you on behalf of the street vendors of Vadodara, who have suffered losses and are being evicted from their places of sale for the past 15 days, as reported by various media platforms. Ajwa, Tandalja, Akota, Pratannagar, Machhi Pith, Fatehpura, Bhuddijanpa etc. and to economically marginalized traders in the name of targeting ‘anti-social’ elements and ‘illegal encroachments’ It is clear from the corporation’s actions that it is being targeted disproportionately.
It further said, “This is happening after the unfortunate and ironic death of Tapan Parmar. The accused in the said case should be held accountable according to the law and the police should conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. But the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s actions, seemingly vindictive and triggered in response to a specific crime, violated key principles of reinforced criminal jurisprudence by the Supreme Court, where the Hon’ble Justices observed that houses and properties were destroyed in response. It would amount to collective punishment for an offense … to the community and others, which is not permitted by the Indian scheme. Constitution.”
The corporation’s action “also violates the Street Vendors Act and its various provisions, which protect the rights of vendors,” the representation added.
Earlier, a delegation of civil society and hawkers federation met Deputy Metropolitan Commissioner Hasmukh Prajapati on November 27 and submitted a memorandum exposing the ‘illegality and indecent behavior’ of the officials.
The group has also asked the civic body to provide details of the eviction and demolition orders as well as notices issued to vendors before such action.
Wednesday’s memorandum said, “Surprisingly, the Deputy Commissioner (Prajapati) asked the representatives to file an RTI to get the relevant copy of the order. This casts serious doubt on the motive behind such acts of the Corporation, and the Corporation is required to publicize the order approving such action in the spirit of active disclosure mandated by the Right to Information Act, 2005.”
In the memorandum, the hawkers federation stated that the civic body “did not give any notice” to the seller and “without following the valid procedure, the perishable and non-perishable goods of the seller were confiscated”. The memorandum also stated that the VMC had “failed to constitute a town vending committee and a dispute resolution mechanism under Section 20 of the Act”.
The federation demanded the VMC to “immediately stop the illegal eviction drive and conduct a survey of all affected vendors”. Further, it said, “vendors should be compensated based on their losses, and vending carts and goods seized by the VMC should be released to the vendors without any fine or penalty.”
VMC officials were not available for comment.
Tapan Parmar, son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former VMC corporator Ramesh Parmar, was allegedly stabbed to death on November 18 on the premises of a government hospital in Vadodara. Five people were arrested in this case.