The Gujarat High Court on Thursday reprimanded the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for seizing food stalls selling non-vegetarian food in the city, and asked the civic body how it could stop people from eating what they wanted.
The High Court was hearing a plea by a number of petitioners whose carts selling non-vegetarian food items were seized by the AMC recently. The vendors included those selling non-vegetarian food, eggs and vegetables.
The court disposed of the petition filed by over 20 street vendors challenging the AMC’s drive to remove food kiosks along the main roads in the city.
The court directed the AMC that if the petitioners approached it [the High Court] within 24 hours to release their seized goods, “based on the policy and in accordance with law, their cases shall be considered as expeditiously as possible”.
During the hearing on Thursday, Justice Biren Vaishnav strongly rapped the municipal body by asking it whether it would decide what people should or should not eat outside.
“What seems to be the problem? You don’t like non-veg. food? That’s your lookout! How can you decide what I should eat outside? It’s always the convenience of the Respondents! How can you stop people from eating what they want? [Is it] suddenly because somebody in power thinks that this is what they want to do?” Justice Biren Vaishnav asked the counsel representing the civic body. “Tomorrow, you will decide what I should eat outside the house?”
Justice Vaishnav also asked whether only non-vegetarian food vendors were being singled out.
The AMC has been contending that the drive was not meant to target vendors selling non-vegetarian food items but to remove encroachment from the roads.
The petitioners submitted that the drive was launched by the civic body without any official order or notification, and it was being carried out in the garb of poor hygiene practices and the removal of encroachments along the roads or footpaths.
Recently, in major cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Junagadh and Jamnagar, civic bodies have launched a drive to remove food carts or kiosks selling egg or meat items along the roads.
The drive was launched after a few municipal councillors from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and State Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi publicly said that selling non-vegetarian food items openly on the roads “hurt the sentiments” of Hindus.
Published - December 09, 2021 10:14 pm IST
