The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to inform it by June, if the Shiv vada pav stalls in the city were legal.

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A division bench of justices V M Kanade and M S Karnik directed the civic body to file their reply to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by an association Janseva Mandal. In their petition filed through advocate Umesh Mohite, the mandal argued that around 250 stalls and carts styled as 'Shiv Vadapav' had no license from any authority.

Mohite argued before the court that, a recent high court order had banned cooking in illegal stalls and carts in the city, as it was not permissible under the Food Safety rules. The Shiv Vadapav stalls and carts, however, operate without any authority keeping any check, he said.

The petition further stated that in 1995, the government launched a scheme named Zunkha Bhakar Kendra, to provide wholesome food at subsidised rates to the poor people. The scheme was dropped in 2000 due to blatant misuse by stall operators. Same year, a new scheme titled Shiv Vadapav was floated, but not approved. Even then, the stalls and carts mushroomed across the city.

The plea prayed for directions from the high court to the corporation to remove all illegal Shiv Vadapav stalls, and a Special Investigation Team to be ordered to probe the launch of the scheme and money collected. The plea also urged for steps be taken to ensure that no one was allowed to encroach upon state or municipal land under the guise of some fake public welfare scheme.