Authority: High Court of Odisha at Cuttack

Order Date: 25 September 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioner: Gobinda Narayan Mishra, a street vendor operating at Ward No.41, Unit‑3, Near Sriya Complex, in front of ICICI Bank, P.O./P.S. Kharvela Nagar, Bhubaneswar, District Khordha.
  • Opposite Parties: State of Odisha and its agencies, including Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) as Opposite Party No.3.
  • Counsel for petitioner: Mr. Debidutta Mohapatra.
  • Counsel for BMC: Mr. P.K. Mohanty (Senior Advocate) and Mr. Pronoy Mohanty (Advocate) representing O.P. Nos.2 & 3.
  • Petition seeks protection under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 and the Odisha Street Vendors Scheme, 2015, requesting a direction to restrain eviction from his place of business.
  • Petitioner asserts he has been conducting his street‑vending activity at the said location for the last 20 years, is solely dependent on this income, and faces starvation if evicted.
  • He possesses a Letter of Recommendation (LoR) for the PM SVANidhi Scheme issued by BMC, identifying him as a street vendor.
  • He has filed an application in Form II for a street‑vending certificate with the Town Vending Committee of BMC; the application is pending.
  • During pendency of the Form II application, steps for eviction were being taken, prompting the filing of the writ petition.
  • The matter was heard through a hybrid arrangement (video conferencing/physical mode).

Final Outcome

  • The Court, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the certificate application, disposes of the writ petition with the following directions:

1. Upon production of a certified copy of this order together with a copy of the Form II application, the Town Vending Committee, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, shall consider the petitioner's application expeditiously within one month from the date of receipt.

2. Until a decision is taken on the Form II application, no coercive measure for eviction of the petitioner shall be taken by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.

3. An urgent certified copy of this order shall be granted on proper application.

Topics: Street Vendors, Eviction Protection