Kerala HC directs street vendors to display certificates, warns of eviction

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the registered street vendors in Kochi to display vending certificates at their place of operation and to produce them before officials when demanded. The court directed Kochi Corporation Secretary A S Naisam, who was present in the court, to immediately inform all the street vendors found eligible for vending to collect the certificates. 

“They should be told that on the failure to produce the certificates of vending as and when demanded by the authorities concerned, including the monitoring committee, they would be liable to be evicted from the place of vending,” the court said. The HC also directed the corporation to issue a public notice in that regard.

The court issued the order on a batch of petitions seeking to restrain the authorities from interfering with street vending. The amicus curiae had submitted a report highlighting the discrepancies in the numbers shown by the corporation with regard to the vendors who have been issued with certificates of vending. The corporation filed a statement giving details of the number of persons to whom such certificates have been issued to date.