Section 41

The Commissioner may, subject to such conditions as he may think fit, specify the streets, premises, places or areas, or parts thereof, in which stalls, tables, showboards, vehicles or receptacles or any other means designed or adapted for the purpose may, with his consent, be set up or used for the sale of food, drink or goods of any kind and may issue licences to persons hawking, selling or exposing the same for sale:Provided that no public street, public place or place of public resort shall be so specified without the consent of the Minister.

Any person who, not being licensed under this section, sets up or uses any stall, table, showboard, vehicle or receptacle or any other means designed or adapted for the purpose, occupying a stationary position in any premises for the purpose of hawking, selling or exposing for sale any food or drink or any other goods shall be guilty of an offence and may be arrested without warrant by any police officer or by any public officer authorised by the Commissioner in writing in that behalf and taken before a Magistrate’s Court and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) and any regulations made under this Act for the control of hawkers —

“premises” means any street, place of public resort or public place;

“public place” means any public park or garden, any river bank or seashore, or any private land or open space or place to which the public has access;

“stall” means any table, showboard, vehicle or receptacle or any other means designed or adapted for the purpose of selling food, drink or goods of any kind and used or intended for use by hawkers, and includes any structure affixed thereto by way of roof, support or flooring.

Notwithstanding subsection (2) or any other written law, any police officer or any public officer, who having effected an arrest in accordance with this section, is satisfied as to the identity, name and place of residence of the person arrested, may, in his discretion instead of taking him before a Court or to a police station serve upon the person a notice, in such form as may be prescribed under section 144, requiring the person to attend at the Court described at the hour and on the date specified in the notice.

For the purpose of satisfying himself as to the identity of the person arrested, such police officer or public officer may require the person arrested to furnish such evidence of identity as he may consider necessary.

A duplicate of the notice referred to in subsection (4) shall be prepared by the police officer or public officer, as the case may be, and by him, if so required by a Court, produced to the Court.

On an accused person appearing before a Court in pursuance of such a notice, the Court shall take cognizance of the offence alleged and shall proceed as though he were produced before it in pursuance of subsection (2).

If a person upon whom such a notice has been served as aforesaid fails to appear before a Court in accordance therewith, the Court shall thereupon issue a warrant for the arrest of such person.

Upon a person arrested in pursuance of a warrant issued under subsection (8) being produced before it, a Court shall proceed as though he were produced before it in pursuance of subsection (2) and shall at the conclusion of such proceedings call upon him to show cause why he should not be punished for failing to attend in compliance with the notice served upon him and if cause is not shown may order him to pay such penalty not exceeding $2,000 as the Court thinks fit or may commit him to prison for a term not exceeding 2 months.

Any stall, table, showboard, vehicle or receptacle together with any appliances and utensils relating thereto and the food, drink or goods intended or exposed for sale, whether they appear to be abandoned or not, belonging or appearing to belong to or in possession of a person appearing to be committing or to have committed an offence under subsection (2) may be seized by any police officer or public officer authorised as aforesaid and removed to and detained at any police station or Government depot or such other place as may be approved by the Commissioner, at the risk of the owner, to abide the directions of a Magistrate’s Court:Provided that any perishable articles likely to decay so seized and removed may be disposed of forthwith.

If any abandoned articles so seized and detained, other than perishable articles already disposed of, are claimed within 48 hours after seizure by the owner thereof, being a person licensed or otherwise lawfully entitled to set up or sell such articles at the place at which they were seized, the abandoned articles shall be returned to the owner.

Every such seizure shall, except when the articles seized have been returned to the owner, be reported to a Magistrate’s Court.

The Magistrate’s Court shall, on convicting any person of an offence under subsection (2) or on receiving a report in respect of any abandoned articles which were apparently being used in connection with the sale of food, drink or goods, order the property seized under subsection (10) to be forfeited and to be disposed of in such manner as the Court thinks fit:Provided that if the Court directs the sale of such articles, the proceeds thereof shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

The Magistrate’s Court may, on convicting a person of an offence under subsection (2) or on receiving a report in respect of any abandoned articles which were not apparently being used in connection with the sale of food, drink or goods, order the property seized under subsection (10) to be forfeited and to be disposed of in such manner as the Court thinks fit:Provided that if the Court directs the sale of such articles the proceeds or such part thereof as the Court thinks fit shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund and the balance, if any, paid to the owner.

The Magistrate’s Court may, on convicting any person under subsection (2), order his photograph to be taken by a police photographer or other photographer. Any such photograph may be preserved and may be produced to any Court for the purpose of establishing identity on a subsequent conviction.

The Commissioner may, from time to time, with the concurrence of the Commissioner of Police, issue temporary permits subject to such conditions as he may think fit for the erection of stalls, tables and showboards for the sale of food, drink or goods in any place specified in such permits during the continuance of any temporary fair, fete, wayang, gala or other special occasion and, notwithstanding anything in this section, it shall not be an offence to erect a stall, table or showboard in accordance with any such permit. [42