High Court shocker for fish sellers

Our Correspondent

Patiala, April 23

Dismissing the writ petition of fish sellers regarding the operation of Fish Market from the local factory area, the Punjab and Haryana High Court denied any relief to the shopkeepers.

The high court issued directions to the Municipal Corporation, Patiala, to take appropriate steps for the purpose of providing infrastructure to fish sellers at the designated area, which is at Ghalauri Gate. The court has also dismissed the appeal of stay of shopkeepers regarding the sale of fish from the existing Fish Market in the factory area.

In their plea, the fish sellers alleged that the MC allotted an unhygienic and dirty place at Ghalauri Gate for the same following the removal of the Fish Market from the factory area.

Residents of the factory area, councillor Harpreet Kaur and her husband Sukhwinder Pal Minta, a former councillor, led a campaign to remove the Fish Market. The residents also staged protests against the foul smell and other issues created due to the sale of fish that led to the closure of the market by the local administration in November 2016.

Minta claimed that earlier the orders of the high court were misinterpreted by the shopkeepers as in the orders the ‘existing location’ was meant by their working places after the removal from the factory area.

Minta said: “The shopkeepers again set up their shops in the factory area in February, after misinterpreting the orders of the high court.”

He said now, the MC and the local administration should immediately remove the shops as they had again created a ruckus in the area.

The Fish Market was closed by the local administration under Section 133 of the IPC after the orders of the Patiala sessions court. The court stated that the market could not exist in the residential area and asked the Municipal Corporation to facilitate an alternate place to the shopkeepers.

After the court orders, the local MC facilitated the shopkeepers with the alternate place at Ghalauri Gate. However, the shop owners again moved the high court against the allocation of the place in unhygienic conditions.