Bombay HC Pulls Up Maharashtra Govt Over Delay In Setting Up Street Vendors' Grievance Panels

Mumbai, August 4, 2026: The Bombay High Court has criticised the Maharashtra government for failing to set up Grievance Redressal Committees for street vendors across the state despite issuing its own directions to do so earlier this year.

Court Questions Delay

A Bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande observed that only nine committees had been constituted across Maharashtra even though the Urban Development Department had directed all municipal corporations and district collectors to complete the process within three months through a Government Resolution dated April 28, 2026. The deadline expired on July 31.

The court was hearing a petition while monitoring compliance with its earlier directions under Section 20 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

According to a chart placed before the court, only one municipal corporation, Dhule, and eight municipal councils had constituted the committees. The Bench said the figures showed how seriously government officers had treated the directions issued by the Urban Development Department.

"We did not ask the State Government to do some favour," the Bench remarked, noting that Section 20 of the 2014 Act itself mandates the constitution of one or more Grievance Redressal Committees.

Statutory Requirement Highlighted

The court stressed that the grievance mechanism is essential because it provides street vendors with a forum to raise disputes and seek redress. It noted that the committee is empowered to verify complaints and take appropriate steps, while an appeal against its decision can be filed before the local authority.

The Bench also referred to the Maharashtra Street Vendors Rules, 2016, which lay down the composition and qualifications of committee members. When the State submitted that it was facing difficulty in identifying eligible members, the judges expressed surprise.

"As far as the Chairperson is concerned, he has to be a person who has been a Civil Judge or a Judicial Magistrate… we fail to understand… is it so difficult to find one such person in each district or that the State Government is just making excuses for not implementing its own directions," the court observed.

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Affidavit Sought

Calling the response of the authorities "extremely careless", the Bench directed the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development Department to personally file an affidavit confirming compliance. It also warned that continued failure could force the court to observe that government officers were not following official directions, leaving the State to decide whether such conduct amounted to misconduct.

The High Court extended the deadline for constituting the committees till August 31, 2026, and kept the matter for further hearing on September 3.

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