The Delhi High Court has held that a vendor cannot be permitted to sell pan masala, gutka and other similar products near a school, which would be harmful to children.

The High Court was considering a petition filed by the Petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking directions to the Respondents to allow the Petitioner to peacefully vend from the vending site near VIP Gate, Nizamuddin Railway Station, South Delhi.

The Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan held, “There can be no doubt that in terms of the aforesaid order, the Petitioner shall not be permitted to sell pan masala, gutka and other similar products close to the ‘Mata Sushila Malhotra DAV Primary School’, where young children would be studying.”

Advocate AK Mishra represented the Petitioner while Advocate Meherunnisa Anand Jaitley represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The Petition was filed by a street vendor, who had been vending from the said vending site for several years. The Petitioner was issued a provisional Certificate of Vending (CoV) under the category of ‘Food/Snack with gas cylinder/fire’ for Central Zone, Ward S-55. The grievance of the Petitioner was that he was being repeatedly obstructed by the concerned officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Police from peacefully carrying out his vending activities, despite the fact that he possessed a proper CoV.

Reasoning

The Bench noted that, as per the photographs produced by the MCD, the Petitioner was selling products such as pan masala, gutka, cigarettes and other similar items. The photographs also indicated that the Petitioner had failed to maintain cleanliness at the vending site.

The Bench referred to the judgment in Ram Prasad (deceased) through his daughter Rita Devi v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi wherein the High Court had passed a direction to remove vends and carts selling products such as gutka, paan masala, etc., in front of a school.

Taking note of the fact that the Petitioner held a valid CoV, the Bench asked the MCD to ensure that the Petitioner does not obstruct the ingress to or egress from the school by its students, parents or faculty. “The MCD shall, accordingly, identify an appropriate space from where the Petitioner may carry on his vending activity”, it ordered.

The Bench further directed, “The Petitioner shall not sell any products such as pan masala, gutka, cigarettes or any other tobacco products which could be harmful to the children, outside the Mata Sushila Malhotra DAV Primary School.”

Cause Title: Noor Alam v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (Neutral Citation: 2026:DHC:5295-DB)

Appearance

Petitioner: Advocates AK Mishra, Arpit Mishra, Alphy Thomas, Kajal Mishra

Respondent: Advocate Meherunnisa Anand Jaitley, Senior Panel Counsel Uma Prasune, Govt Pleader Akash Gupta, Advocate Shreyansh Gupta

Click here to read/download Order


Delhi High CourtJustice Pratibha M. SinghJustice Vikas Mahajan

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.