The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (May 6) granted five weeks to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to issue QR code-generated identity cards to 99,435 hawkers who were surveyed in May 2014.

The court said any hawker beyond this list, including nationals of Bangladesh, can be evicted. It also directed the BMC to set up a mechanism for people to file complaints through WhatsApp without revealing the complainant’s identity.

The court was hearing a matter related to street vending in Mumbai. In a judgment delivered on March 23, the High Court had directed the BMC and the Mumbai Police to verify the identity of all hawkers on the city’s streets and check for nationals of Bangladesh or other people who have moved from other countries. The authorities were ordered to take action against such persons if found.

A Division Bench of Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata said issuance of the ID cards will not create any equity in favour of the 99,435 hawkers. The cards are meant only to identify hawkers who are not permitted. The bench also directed Government Pleader Anjali Helekar to find a provision in law to act against any person who creates a false ID.

The BMC had issued more than one lakh applications when the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 was enforced. At that time, 99,435 hawkers were surveyed and were protected by the court. These 99,435 do not include the licensed hawkers; that task will be handled by the Town Vending Committee when it is constituted.

During the hearing, the BMC, through senior counsel Anil Singh and advocate Chaitanya Chavan, sought two months to print and issue the ID cards. The bench responded that two months was too long. “We cannot permit the continuation of activities that are not permitted for more than two months,” the court said. “The only solution is identification of the hawkers as to who are among the list of 99,435. Anyone beyond that will have to be removed. You must have the will and desire. You can consider bringing in a non-government entity to complete this task.”

Mr. Singh pointed out that bringing in a non-government entity would require following a tender process, which would cause further delay. The Bench then asked Helekar about the police’s role in taking action against hawkers not permitted. She said police are patrolling the sites and that the ID cards would make it easier for the police to take action.

Justice Gadkari said the court cannot repeat the same direction for years without compliance. He told the State government that it could provide funds to the BMC for printing the ID cards. “The State of Maharashtra has so much money that it spends crores of rupees on many schemes, giving funds to individuals for free. Can it not use some funds for the welfare of the common man?” the judge said.

The Bench adjourned the hearing to June 10. By that date, the BMC is required to issue all ID cards and identify hawkers beyond the list of 99,435.