Delhi Police Act, 1978 | Public streets and places

Section 82 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978: Exposing Animals for Hire or Sale

Section 82 regulates the use of streets and public places for exposing animals or vehicles for hire or sale, grooming animals, cleaning vehicles, training animals and undertaking vehicle repairs or other operations that obstruct traffic or seriously annoy the public.

Text of Section 82 - Exposing animal for hire, sale, etc.

No person shall in any street or public place expose for hire or sale any animal or vehicle, clean any furniture or vehicle, or clean or groom any horse or other animal except at such times and places as the competent authority permits, or shall train or break in any horse or other animal or make any vehicle or any part of a vehicle or (except when as a result of any accident repairing on the spot is unavoidable) repair any vehicle or part of a vehicle, or carry on therein any manufacture or operation so as to be a serious impediment to traffic or serious annoyance to residents in the vicinity or to the public.

Meaning and scope of Section 82

The provision is directed at maintaining safe and usable public streets and public places. It covers both animal-related activity and work involving vehicles or other articles. The words of the section distinguish activities that may be conducted at times and places permitted by the competent authority from activities that become objectionable because they seriously impede traffic or seriously annoy nearby residents or the public.

1. Animals or vehicles offered for hire or sale

Exposing an animal or vehicle for hire or sale in a street or public place is regulated by the permission concerning times and places issued by the competent authority. An individual should not assume that a public road or footway may be used as a regular display or trading location.

2. Cleaning furniture or vehicles and grooming animals

Cleaning furniture or vehicles, and cleaning or grooming horses or other animals, are likewise subject to the times and places permitted by the competent authority when carried out in a street or public place.

3. Training animals, manufacturing and repairing vehicles

The section also addresses training or breaking in animals, making vehicles or vehicle parts, repairing vehicles and conducting manufacturing or other operations in public places where the statutory threshold of serious traffic obstruction or serious annoyance is met. It expressly recognises an exception for vehicle repairs that cannot be avoided at the spot because of an accident.

Important expressions

Street or public place: The location of the activity matters. The Act contains statutory definitions in Section 2, which should be consulted when determining whether a particular location is covered.
Competent authority: The authority empowered under the applicable provisions to permit particular times and places. A permission should be checked for its specific terms and geographical scope.
Serious impediment to traffic: An obstruction of sufficient gravity to meet the language of Section 82, assessed on the facts rather than presumed from every minor inconvenience.
Serious annoyance: The provision expressly refers to residents in the vicinity and members of the public; the seriousness of the interference is relevant.

Enforcement and penalties

A contravention of Section 82 may attract the penalty provision applicable to the relevant group of offences under the Delhi Police Act, 1978. Section 97 should be read with the current statutory text before stating the precise punishment or assessing a particular case. The nature of the alleged conduct, the place, any permission and the evidence of obstruction or annoyance can all be material.

Other laws, including applicable municipal, road traffic and animal welfare requirements, may operate independently. Section 82 should not be treated as a general licence to trade, park, repair or keep animals on public property.

Practical examples

Displaying animals for sale on a public footway without the relevant permission may raise an issue under Section 82.
Using a street as a regular location to wash vehicles or groom horses requires attention to the permitted times and places.
Repairing a vehicle following an accident may fall within the express on-the-spot necessity exception; routine roadside workshop activity should not be equated with that exception.
Training an animal or manufacturing vehicle parts in a manner that seriously obstructs traffic may engage the provision.

Read Section 81 (obstruction or mischief by animal), Section 83 (obstruction in a street) and Section 84 (obstructing a footway) for related restrictions.

For the official statutory text and amendments, consult the India Code legislative database and search for the Delhi Police Act, 1978. The Delhi Police official website provides departmental information. Verify the latest amendments, notifications and applicable permissions before relying on a provision in a specific matter.

Legal information: This article explains the statutory provision for general reference. The facts, applicable notifications and current law determine the outcome of an individual matter.