The petition highlighted that there were more than 3,700 eligible street vendors in the NDMC area and allowing sites only to 386 would leave out the 90 per cent of the vendors, who had been waiting for a fair policy for years.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna admitted the petition but refused to grant a stay order on the lottery to be held on Friday for allotting sites to 386 vendors.

The Bench refrained from passing any order in the matter after the NDMC counsel informed the court that a petition on the similar issue was to come up before the Supreme Court on Friday.

“As the NDMC has said a similar matter is listed before the Supreme Court on July 15, we are only inclined to say that this matter be listed before us on July 18,” said Justice Misra.

The petition challenging the NDMC policy and a recent advertisement asking for applications from street vendors for allotment of 386 sites was filed by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI).

Appearing for NASVI, advocate Prashant Bhushan contended that a National Policy on Street Vending was drafted and subsequently adopted by the Centre in 2004. The Supreme Court had in 2010 directed the government to regulate hawking and street vending through an appropriate law by notifying a legislation by June 30, 2011.

Bhushan said that while a comprehensive legislation to regulate Delhi’s street vendors was yet to be put in place, NDMC had come up with its separate scheme to regulate urban vending.

“However, while 3,700 street vendors have been identified as eligible vendors, NDMC, in accordance with 1989-Thareja Committee report, has decided to allot spaces only to 386. The committee had recommended determining the area holding capacity, vending areas and allotting spots to eligible vendors as per their seniority. However, what the NDMC proposes to do is to leave 90 per cent out of the net despite their entitlement,” alleged Bhushan.

As NDMC counsel agreed that the lottery scheduled for Friday pertained to 386 spots as per the Committee report, the Bench remarked: “But that report was in 1989 under different situations. How can that apply in the same terms now?”

To this, the NDMC counsel said that their scheme has been approved by the Supreme Court and it is again going to hear a matter relating to the challenge to the policy on Friday.

Recording this, the court then said that it will wait for the outcome of hearing before the apex court.