MUMBAI, Sept. 22 -- The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a contempt petition filed by residents of Kamathipura against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for allegedly failing to act against illegal hawkers in the area despite earlier court directions. BMC can take action, as per the directions issued by the court, only after following due process, said the court. Even if a person illegally comes into possession of a piece of land, he acquires certain civil rights in law. "He can't be summarily removed without following due process in law. Having regard to this, we are not inclined to entertain this contempt petition," the division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said. On December 21, 2023, the court had directed the BMC to remove the illegal encroachment in the lanes of the Kamathipura area, provided the petitioners made a representation to the authorities within a fortnight. Dharma Vallakati and other residents claimed that despite approaching the BMC within the stipulated time, it failed to comply with the court's order. "We waited for three months for the civic body to take action against the illegal enchantment. When they failed to act, we filed a contempt plea in the court," said a resident. The counsel representing the petitioners submitted that these hawkers have been occupying the streets of Kamathipura, a non-hawking zone, for 7-10 years now and have completely blocked the roads. "They have put up shops in the narrow lanes and have made it difficult for the residents to even move out of their houses," he said, and suggested a parking a surveillance van at the site to prevent the return of evicted hawkers. Perusing the timeline of the event, the bench questioned, "The hawkers have been at the site for 7-10 years now and you want them to be removed in 3 months?" indicating that it is impractical to expect their removal in such a short period. The court noted that the order passed in 2023 was done without hearing the BMC's reply and had simply directed the civic body to remove the alleged encroachment. However, it pointed out that the Supreme Court, and the laws laid down, gave certain civil rights even to encroachers, and they cannot be summarily removed without following due process. In December 2023, the Supreme Court, in an unrelated case, emphasised that a minimum safeguard to follow when evicting an alleged encroacher is to follow a fair procedure. "The action on the representation to be preferred by the petitioners under this order shall be taken by the authority concerned with promptness." Notably, the court, in its December 2023 order, acknowledged that hawkers have completely encroached the pathways and pavements on SP Road from 1st Lane to 16th Lane in Kamathipura....