The division bench of Chief Justice M B Shah and Y S Jahagirdar ordered the stay till September 25 while hearing a group of petitions filed by public associations opposing such hawkers' pockets in residential areas. The court directed the corporation to file an affidavit clarifying the scheme. The petitions will now be heard on September 22.

Among the nine petitions filed by different public groups, including Save Versova Beach Association and the Lallubhai Park Area Residents' Association, the first one to be heard today was that of the Chembur Residents' Association, headed by Avinash Tambe.

This group was represented by senior counsel Rafique Dada, who argued that the municipal corporation had haphazardly started marking hawking zones in residential areas like 6th Road, 11th Road and D K Sandu Marg in Chembur. Such zones would obstruct thefunctioning of public hospitals, temples and streets in the area, he said. Moreover, the addition of hawkers in the area would create noise pollution and affect cleanliness. Dada added that even hawkers did not want to shift to residential zones.

Counsel for the Versova association, Yusuf Mulani, argued that the BMC could not mark zones before inviting objections and suggestions from the public. A definitive plan for the creation of the zones should be made public before embarking on such a project, he stated. Even if the Supreme Court has directed the formation of such zones, it does not allow the corporation to shift hawkers to any part of the city. The corporation must chalk out the no-hawking zones as well, Mulani added.

BMC counsel M P Rao reiterated the 1985 Supreme Court judgement, which permits the municipal corporation to regulate hawking by forming zones. However, Dada argued that the corporation could not suddenly decide to implement this judgement.

Advocate General C J Sawant, whorepresented the state government, added that the corporation must make the scheme for new hawkers' zone transparent. He said an earlier government committee had given its go-ahead to the hawkers' zones.