Some time ago I was sitting on the stairs of this court, as it was vacation time and nothing much was happening... chatting with my friends. Just outside the court premises was a tea stall, apparently illegal! We ordered "chai" and before we could be served, there was a municipal van standing near the stall, taking possession of all the tea-stall goods.
I inquired as to what had gone wrong? I remember seeing the stall for as long as I've been visiting that court. One of the stall-owner's helper told me that the corporation guys were seizing their stuff because they did not have the required permissions.
"So then what," I asked him. "It's nothing. These guys come every so often and take our stuff. Our owner will go to their office, pay some money and get it back and work will be as usual tomorrow," he said.
The response was so casual that I couldn't think of what else to ask or think even. But this is not so uncommon in the city, is it now?
Hawkers and street vendors live like this! They know that sometimes permissions are costlier than paying fines and prefer it that way! How much would a stall owner actually have to pay to legalise a stall? And how much of that money would be paid in earnest and how much "under the table"? Reminds me of an ad, which said, they take it because we pay!