The Supreme Court has recently provided interim relief from eviction to approximately 19,000 street vendors in Pimpri-Chinchwad, near Pune, Maharashtra.

The Court directed that until the process of identifying and notifying hawking and non-hawking zones is carried out as per the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the status quo must be maintained, and hawkers should not be evicted from their vending locations.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order, stating,

"The exercise to accommodate the 19792 street-vendors or 14000 and odd street-vendors, as pointed out by the learned counsel appearing for the respondent-Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, is continuing. Until the exercise is completed, the parties shall maintain status quo with respect to possession and functioning of the street-vendors."

The Court also reportedly made an oral observation emphasizing that hawkers should be treated with dignity and respect and must not be evicted unlawfully.

In October 2023, the respondent No.1-Corporation requested at least six weeks to complete the exercise under the Street Vendors Act. Nearly a year later, in September, it was informed that the final list of 19,792 street vendors was prepared on February 7, 2024. However, citing financial constraints and limited resources, the corporation sought additional time to accommodate all the vendors.

Recently, observing that the Corporation's exercise was still ongoing, the Court directed that the status quo regarding the possession and functioning of street vendors be maintained until the process is completed.