NHRC orders compensation for fruit vendor beaten to death by Delhi Police For not paying "Hafta" Delhi Government ordered to constitute High Power Committee To end "Hafta" menace

The Commission has asked the Government of NCT of Delhi to pay a sum of Rs.2.5 lakhs to the next of kin of one Matloob Hussain who had died of police violence.

The Commission considered it deeply regrettable that an innocent fruit vendor of about 33 years of age and supporting a family of seven, lost his life as a result of a severe beating by two policemen of the Delhi Police mainly because he had failed to oblige them by paying the "Hafta" (the illegal weekly collection made to permit petty vendors to carry out their trade activities).

The Commission has also asked the Delhi Government to constitute a High Powered Committee to look into the menace of the collection of "Hafta" by the police and other civic functionaries from the petty vendors and other similarly placed persons. The Committee will also suggest the ways and means to curb this menace so that this vulnerable section of society can live in peace.

The Commission was seized of this case by means of a report from the Sub-divisional Magistrate, Shahdara, Delhi informing the Commission about Shri Hussain’s death pursuant to severe beating by two policemen. The Commission subsequently received petitions from certain NGOs - PUDR, PUCL and Shri Syed Shahabuddin, former MP, who also raised the general issue relating to the violation of human rights of petty vendors in Delhi and elsewhere in the country. They felt that the Commission should protect this group against the various atrocities committed against them by police authorities and other authorities.

The Commission had issued notice to the Government of NCT of Delhi. The report of the Sub-divisional Magistrate of Shahdara gave the details of the event. The report of the Deputy Commissioner of Police however gave a different version. From the reports, the Commission inferred that a Head Constable and a Constable subjected the deceased to physical violence and the beating was so severe that it ultimately proved fatal.

The Commission appreciated that the higher authorities had done well in taking action against the delinquent police officials by putting them under suspension and prosecuting them after due investigation, though regrettably this was done only after the death of Shri Hussain. The Commission was, however, pained to observe the lack of sensitivity of the concerned SHO who had neither taken adequate and immediate action for the medical treatment of Shri Hussain nor for the registering of a case against the errant police officials even though he was aware of the incident. The Commission thus assumed that the atrocities committed were with the knowledge/ connivance of the SHO. The Commission has therefore accepted the recommendation of the SDM for a probe into the conduct of the SHO in this episode.

The Commission has also recommended to the Government of NCT of Delhi that it ensures effective and expeditious trial of the errant officials and make sure that they are punished in accordance with law and not allowed to go scot-free because of weak prosecution. It has ordered the Government to ensure that the implementation of the scheme framed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in regard to hawkers/petty vendors be implemented at the earliest.

The Delhi Government has been asked to submit the compliance report to the Commission by 1 August 1999.