The commission also asked the State to constitute a high-powered committee to look into the menace of hafta, the illegal weekly collection made by police and other civic functionaries to permit petty vendors to carry out their trade. It will also suggest ways and means to curb the menace so hawkers can live in peace, sources said.

NHRC was informed through a report from the sub-divisional magistrate of Shahdara about Hussain's death due to severe beating by the police. The NHRC subsequently received petitions from certain NGOs andfrom former MP Syed Shahabuddin, about the human rights violation of petty vendors in Delhi and elsewhere.