SC pulls up hawkers during hearing of case

New Delhi, Apr 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court today threatened to throw out all hawkers sitting inside the court's visitor gallery when they started clapping in response to some remark made by the judges.

''We won't allow anybody in the visitor's gallery if this thing happens again", Justice B P Singh warned. The court was responding to a suggestion made by some NGOs and the Residents Welfare Association (RWA) that they should also be associated with the implementation of the government policy on hawkers and squatters in the city. Justice B P Singh rejected the suggestion, noting, ''what was the guarantee that there is no corruption in NGOs and RWAs''. At this comment, the hawkers started clapping.

A bench comprising Justices B P Singh and H S Bedi will pronounce guidelines for implementing the policy on hawkers and squatters in the national capital. The court has already announced that hawking will now be permitted in non-hawking zones identified by the MCD and NDMC. Squatters will not be allowed to have any permanent structures and instead, will the open sky. Squatting will not be permitted at the cost of the right of pedestrians, according to the guidelines.

The court will announce the guidelines for implementing the policies tomorrow.

The MCD and NDMC have already placed before the court the policies prepared by the two civic agencies for approval of the court. Earlier in the day, counsel for NGOs alleged before the court that there was a hawker's mafia operating in the city and MCD officials were extorting money from the hawkers, amounting to about Rs 500 crore per year.

UNI