K SUDARSAN Vs. COMMISSIONERCORPORATION OF MADRAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions give rise to certain interesting questions of law. The petitioners in W. P. 1127 of 1980 and W. P. 2415 and 2116 of 1982 are merchants and they have their shops in Ranganathan St. T. Nagar, Madras. They have prayed for the issue of a writ of Mandamus directing respondents 1 to 3 to act according to law in removing the hawkers and pedlars from Ranganathan Street, Madras 17 and also the pavements and kerbs therein and to render them absolutely free from obstruction for vehicles and pedestrians from access to the petitioners, shops. Respondents 4 and 5 have been impleaded as additional respondents. The 4th respondent is the President of the Anna Sirukadai Viyabarigal Sangam.

(2.) The petitioners in W. P. 7078 of 1980 and 1049 of 1981 are shop owners who carry on their business in N. S. C. Bose Road and Rattan Bazar Road, Madras 1. The prayer in these writ petitions is for the issue of a writ of Mandamus directing the respondents viz., the Municipal Corporation of Madras represented by its Commissioner, and the Commissioner f Police, Madras, directing them to remove the obstructions and encroachments made by the unauthorised hawkers on the N. S. C, Bose Road and Rattan Bazar Road, Madras-1.

(3.) I shall refer to the facts in W. P.No. 2416 of 1982. Ranganathan Street connects Mambalam railway station and the Usman Road. According to the petitioners, it is a prestigious business centre where there are a number of shop sale of goods of all types and varieties. In fact that the shopping street attracts a number the shop keepers have incurred heavy expenditure in decorating their shops and equipping them with costly fittings and fixtures to attract the customers. , The annual turnover for all the shopkeepers is said to be very high and on those shops depend more than 750 people for their livelihood. The width of Ranganathan Street is said to be 30 ft. In view of the fact that Ranganathan Street is a connecting link road of Mambalam Railway Station and Usman Road, many persons pass and repass through the street during the day and late in the night. According to the petitioners, since the last few years hundreds of street vendors, referred to as hawkers for the purpose of convenience, have occupied Ranganathan Street. The hawkers are said to sell their wares ranging from vegetables to various other items on the street itself. For the purpose of carrying on their business, the hawkers squat on the street in a continuous line, they thereby effectively prevent customers from entering the shops and also the occupiers in the shops from carrying on their trade in Ranganathan Street. They also obstruct the view of the shops and the show cases from the street. As a result, the business of the various shopkeepers has not only fallen but they are being effectively prevented from carrying on their business. It is further stated in the affidavit that people find it difficult to have unrestricted ingress and egress in Ranganathan Street. On account of the presence of these hawkers Ranganathan Street has become so crowded that it has become impracticable for any person to pass and repass through the street. It is further averred that the first respondent, the Commissioner of Corporation of Madras has unauthorisedly permitted these hawkers to squat on Ranganathan Street and sell their wares by authorising a contractor to collect a fee of 25 paise every day from these hawkers. The first respondent has no authority under the City Municipal Corporation Act to permit these hawkers to carry on their trade in Ranganathan Street, thereby obstructing people from passing and repassing around the street. It is in these circumstances, the writ petitions have been filed. The petitioners have further stated that apart from them, other people who have their shops in the street have got a right to free and unrestricted egress and ingress to the street and that the said right is jeopardized by the presence of these hawkers.