Solan vending zones de-notified, displacing petty traders
Municipal Corporation, Solan de-notified two Saproon vending zones after vendors had been displaced during highway work. The Himachal Pradesh High Court directed the Corporation to reassess that decision within four weeks because relevant livelihood and street-vending protections had apparently not been considered.
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How we verify →The de-notification was not quashed, but Municipal Corporation, Solan was ordered to reconsider it within four weeks in accordance with the street-vending law and the Court's observations.
What happened
The High Court recorded that 24 petitioners or their predecessors had earned a livelihood through street vending near Bus Stop Saproon and Valley Side Saproon for more than 30 years. They sold fruit, vegetables, fast food, tea, roasted corn, groundnuts and other food.
The High Court recorded that Municipal Corporation, Solan had notified the two locations as Vending Zones 4 and 5 on 11 October 2023. The Corporation de-notified them through a Town Vending Committee decision on 13 August 2024.
The Court recorded that the vendors had been displaced while the Solan-Parwanoo highway was widened and had not been returned after the work was completed. The Corporation said alternative vending zones existed, but most petitioners did not appear in its 2021 survey.
The Court found that the mode of the 2021 survey was not available on record and that it was unclear whether street vendors comprised the required share of the Town Vending Committee.
The High Court said relevant factors had apparently not been considered and directed the Corporation to reassess the de-notification within four weeks. It disposed of the petition without itself restoring the zones.
What the record says
“All the above relevant factors have apparently not been considered by respondent No.3 while de-notifying vending Zones No.4 & 5. In view of above & in the interest of justice, it is deemed appropriate to direct respondent No. 3-Municipal Corporation, Solan to have a relook/reassess and revisit its decision of de-notifying Vending Zones Nos. 4 and 5, in accordance with law as also keeping in view the aforesaid observations made in Malkit Singh & Another.4 within four weeks. Ordered accordingly.”
CWP No. 8741/2025, 2026:HHC:33862, page 21-22 — read the full text
A peaceful economic act
The vendors were conducting ordinary petty trade, and the record discloses no violence, fraud, unsafe product or complaining victim. The state action removed their recognised places of business and disrupted their livelihoods.
What we could not confirm
The judgment does not say that the vending zones were restored or that the vendors had returned by the decision date. It also does not identify the exact date on which each vendor was physically displaced.