High Court of DelhiW.P.(C)/7270/2026

Dinesh v. Delhi Cantonment Board And ANR.

2026-05-22Hon'Ble Ms. Justice Prathiba M. Singh,Hon'Ble Mr. Justice Madhu Jain9 pages

$~44 to 52, 58 & 62 to 64 *

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Date of decision: 22nd May, 2026 Uploaded on: 25th May, 2026 + W.P.(C) 7270/2026 DINESH .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~45 + W.P.(C) 7273/2026 NARENDER YADAV .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~46 + W.P.(C) 7276/2026 KULDEEP KUMAR .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~47 + W.P.(C) 7277/2026 SONU .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~48 + W.P.(C) 7278/2026 VIJENDER .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~49 + W.P.(C) 7279/2026

RAMAUTAR .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~50 + W.P.(C) 7280/2026 RAMVRESH .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~51 + W.P.(C) 7281/2026 PAPPU .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~52 + W.P.(C) 7282/2026 AVNISH KUMAR .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~58 + W.P.(C) 7291/2026 BAKIL UDDIN AND ORS.

.....Petitioners versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~62 + W.P.(C) 7327/2026 ANITA DEVI .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~63

+ W.P.(C) 7329/2026 CHANDER KESH .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents $~64 + W.P.(C) 7330/2026 JITENDRA .....Petitioner versus DELHI CANTONMENT BOARD AND ANR.

.....Respondents Appearances for the petitioners Mr. Sanjay Baniwal, Adv.

Appearances for the Respondents.

Mr. Kartik Khokhar, SPC with Mr. Ashish Sharma, Adv. Mr. Ankur Yadav, SPC with Ms. Anupriya Yadav, Adv. for R-2. Mr. Tarveen Singh Nanda, Mr. Gaurav Aggarwal, Mr. Ankur Mishra & Mr. Gurpreet Singh, Advs. for Delhi Cantonment Board. Ms. Shilpa Dewan, SPC for R-2/UOI.

Ms. Sarita Aggarwal, SPC for R-2/UOI.

Mr. Manoj Kumar Tyagi, SPC for R-2/Delhi Police. Mr Mahendra Vikram Singh , SPC with Mr Avnish Singh, Adv. for R-2. Dr. Abhishek Khanna, Senior Panel counsel for Respondent No.2 Ms. Sarita Aggarwal, SPC with Mr. Rahul Bhaskar, GP for R-1 & 2.

CORAM:

JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUSTICE MADHU JAIN Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral) 1.

This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. 2.

These petitions have been filed by vendors whose applications for vending licenses have been rejected by the Town Vending Committee (hereinafter, 'TVC') of the Delhi Cantonment Board.

In a long process of finalising the list of authorised vendors, the Delhi Cantonment Board had taken a policy decision in its Resolution No. 3 dated dated 27th January, 2026 and it was decided as under: "The TVC after lengthy deliberation resolved that vendors who are able to produce at least 03 challans, issued by Delhi Cantonment Board, before the date of commencement of survey i.e. 27.10.2023 shall be considered to be included in the list of street vendors subject to the holding capacity finalized by the TVC. The TVC further directed the Revenue Superintendent to examine the representations of the vendors, as brought out on the agenda site, in the light of the criteria fixed today by this TVC and to submit a report in the next meeting of TVC for consideration and decision." 4.

Perusal of the above decision taken by the Delhi Cantonment Board which show that the TVC had deliberated the matter at length and decided that only vendors who were able to produce at least three challans issued by the Delhi Cantonment Board prior to the date of commencement of survey dated 27th October, 2023 would be entitled to be included in the list of the street vendors. The above list would also be subject to the holding capacity which the TVC wants to finalise.

These Minutes of the meeting held on 15th January, 2026 have been considered by this Court in a number of petitions and the Delhi Cantonment Board was directed to take a decision on the basis of the said Minutes, in respect of various vendors who had approached this Court. 6.

In W.P.(C) 17785/2025 titled 'Gyan Chand v. Delhi Cantonment Board & Ors.' , vide order dated 2nd April, 2026, this Court directed as under: "7.

Heard. This Court has considered similar matters,

including W.P.(C) 2667/2026titled Danveer Yadav vs. Delhi Cantonment Board, W.P.(C) 18926/2025 titled Narender Yadav v. Delhi Cantonment Board and Ors., and W.P.(C) 18942/2025 titled Anita Devi v. Delhi Cantonment Board and Ors..

In W.P.(C) 2667/2026 titled Danveer Yadav (supra), vide order dated 25th February, 2026, the Court had held as under:

"3. The Petitioner claims to be a street vendor in Delhi Cantonment Board and prays that his case be considered in terms of the minutes of meeting of the Town Vending Committee dated 15th January, 2026.

4. The case of the Petitioner is that he has three challans to show that he has been vending in the said area. The Petitioner has also made a representation to the Delhi Cantonment Board that he be issued a Certificate of Vending (hereinafter, 'COV').

5. Mr. Mishra, ld. Counsel for the Petitioner relies upon the minutes of meeting dated 15th January, 2026 of the Town Vending Committee wherein it was decided that if any vendor is able to produce three challans issued by the Delhi Cantonment Board prior to commencement of survey i.e., 27th October, 2023, then such cases shall be considered by the Town Vending Committee.

6. Mr. Nanda, ld. Counsel for Respondent No. 1-Delhi Cantonment Board also confirms the above decision taken in the said meeting.

7. The Court has considered the matter, including the photographs placed on record. The case of the Petitioner is that he has three challans prior to 27th October, 2023. The relevant portion of the Minutes of meeting dated 15th January 2026 read as under: "The TVC after lengthy deliberation resolved that vendors who are able to

produce at least 03 challans. issued by Delhi Cantonment Board, before the date of commencement of survey i.e. 27.10.2023 shall be considered to be included in the list of street vendors subject to the holding capacity finalized by the TVC. The TVC further directed the Revenue Superintendent to examine the representations of the vendors, as brought out on the agenda site, in the light of the criteria fixed today by this TVC and to submit a report in the next meeting of TVC for consideration and decision."

8. Accordingly, in terms of the minutes of meeting dated 15th January, 2026, let the case of the Petitioner be examined by the Delhi CantonmentBoard and the decision be communicated to the Petitioner within a period of one month from today.

9. The petition is disposed of in these terms. Pending applications, if any, are also disposed of."

Further, a perusal of the minutes of meeting dated 15th January, 2026 of the Delhi Cantonment Board would show that in the said minutes, the resolution which has been passed, is extracted below:

"Resolution No. 1 & 2:

[...]

(8) The TVC further resolved that the holder of temporary vending certificate shall not be evicted from the vending site till the finalisation of vending zones and issuance of vending certificate. However, if there is any violation by these vendors then process should be initiated to cancel the temporary vending certificate.

[...] Resolution No. 3:

[...] The TVC after lengthy deliberation resolved that vendors who are able to produce at least 03 challans. issued by Delhi Cantonment Board, before the date of commencement of survey i.e. 27.10.2023 shall be considered to be included in the list of street vendors subject to the holding capacity finalized by the TVC. The TVC further directed the Revenue Superintendent to examine the representations of the vendors, as brought out on the agenda site, in the light of the criteria fixed today by this TVC and to submit a report in the next meeting of TVC for consideration and decision."

10. It is clear from the above, vendors who are able to produce at least three challans issued by the Delhi Cantonment Board prior to 27thOctober, 2023 shall be considered for inclusion in the list of street vendors. In addition, the representations of the concerned vendors are to be examined on the basis of the said requirement.

11. In the present case, there are some challans which have been filed by the Petitioner that are prior to 2023 i.e., 21stSeptember, 2015, and 18thJune, 2019. The case of the Petitioner is that he has not been allowed to vend at the concerned site. The Cantonment Board has already taken a decision vide Minutes of Meeting dated 15th January 2026 to the effect that those persons who have challans prior to 27th October 2023 shall not be disturbed and that their cases shall be verified and a decision shall be taken.

12. Considering the order dated 25thFebruary, 2026 passed in similar matters including Danveer Yadav (supra), let the case of the Petitioner be also examined by the TVC/Delhi Cantonment Board and the decision be communicated within a period of one month."

Pursuant to various orders passed by this Court, the TVC has undertaken a detailed exercise by which the challans of the vendors have been scrutinised and after scrutiny, the vendors who were able to produce three challans prior to 27th October, 2023 have been included in the list of vendors. Those vendors who could not produce challans prior to 2023 or furnished insufficient number of challans have been rejected. 8.

The submission on behalf of the Petitioners by Mr. Sanjay Baniwal, ld. Counsel is that some vendors have one or two challans and even after 2023 they are vending continuously. However, their candidature has been rejected. 9.

Mr. Nanda appearing for the Cantonment Board however submits that the TVC has undertaken a fair scrutiny of the challans and based on the policy decision, some of the vendors' names have been rejected and the list of authorised vendors has been drawn up.

10.

The question as to what should be the criteria for drawing up the final list of vendors would be a policy decision to be taken by the Delhi Cantonment Board based on the space available, the capacity, as also the number of vendors who are to be accommodated in a manner that pedestrians and vehicular traffic movement is not disrupted.

11.

The said policy decision was taken as set out in the Minutes of the meeting held on 15th January, 2026 and has been repeatedly reiterated by this Court in several orders.

12.

After the scrutiny of challans, the final minutes of the meeting dated 24th April, 2026 which has been handed over to the Court would also show that the consideration has been properly done and no fault can be found with the same. Those persons who had the requisite documents have been added in

the list of vendors and those who did not, their candidature has been rejected. 13.

Under these circumstances, this Court is of the opinion that the prayers being sought by present Petitioners who were unable to produce three challans prior to 27th October, 2023 cannot be accepted and hence, the rejection orders cannot also be faulted.

14.

At this stage, ld. Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the mere fact that some of the Petitioners had two challans or one challan would in effect show that they were vending prior to 2023.

15.

In the opinion of this Court, such Petitioners who were unable to produce three challans, in view of the policy decision, cannot be considered for being listed as authorised vendors. However, after the TVC finalises the vending plan and if there is any excess capacity available, these Petitioners who have lesser number of challans can be considered as part of the next survey.

16.

Needless to add, the Delhi Cantonment Board is free to take action against any unauthorised vendors in accordance with law. 17.

The present petitions are disposed of in these terms. Pending applications, if any, are also disposed of.

PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGE MADHU JAIN JUDGE MAY 22, 2026 ab/ck