SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Feb 1: Shopkeepers of Upper Bazaar have withdrawn their petition filed in the High Court as the Tribunal had already heard the case.
However, the High Court on Tuesday, in an oral order, instructed the Ranchi Municipal Corporation not to take any action against the shopkeepers till the Tribunal releases its order. For the moment, the decision has been reserved by the Tribunal in the matter of RMC trying to seal 17 shops of Upper Bazaar.
As per sources, earlier in the day the court of Justice Rajesh Shankar of Jharkhand High Court refused to hear the matter. The court said that the matter concerned started with the hearing of the PIL.
Therefore, the matter should be heard by the Division Bench. After this, the court directed that the matter be sent to the division bench for hearing.
Meanwhile, former CM Raghubar Das along with MLA CP Singh and Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya reached Upper Bazaar to meet the shopkeepers.
Das was apprised and informed by Deputy Mayor Vijayvargiya about the whole matter, after which Das supported the shopkeepers and said that the shopkeepers were safe under the BJP rule, but the Hemant government was exploiting the shopkeepers. He further condemned the action by the corporation.
Das further called the Municipal Commissioner Mukesh Kumar and said that the matter was in court, hence it was inappropriate to seal the shops until the court releases a decision. Talking to the media, former CM Das said, ‘I had also gone to Morhabadi and met shopkeepers there. It is not right to remove poor shopkeepers without making alternative arrangements.’
In the meantime, around two thousand shopkeepers and employees had shut down shops near Gandhi Chowk and Rangrej Gali located in Upper Bazar of Ranchi on Tuesday and protested against the declaration of sealing of shops by Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
The protest began at around 9 am with shop owners and employees gathering near Rangrez gali. A team of officials from Ranchi Municipal Corporation had reached Gandhi Chowk at around 10:30 am, along with the police of Kotwali police station to seal the said shops.
According to sources, Chamber President Dheeraj Taneja, who was present along with the Federation Chamber team and other traders on the spot, said that the Municipal Corporation had given 72 hours to seal 17 shops through a notice on Friday. Taneja claimed that this was an unfair move. Before this, the corporation had given notice to seal about 500 shops.
He said that a petition has been filed in the court for a stay on this decision by the corporation. Meanwhile, the corporation is adamant to take an action without a decision from the High Court.
