Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Court praises the corporation for promptly obeying its orders' that was published in Newsband

Court praises the corporation for promptly obeying its orders

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday had come down heavily on the municipal corporations and councils in the state for letting cities get defaced by illegal banners and posters. It had directed the civic bodies, which included even the NMMC, to remove all the illegal hoardings within 24 hours.

A division bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and AP Bhangale had warned that if the order was not obeyed, then the civic commissioner would be held responsible for the inaction.

Order relating to taking of criminal actions against and fining of those who put up the hoardings were given. The directions were given during the hearing of public interest litigations raising concern about illegal hoardings, posters, banners in various cities. The bench said that even the political leaders should not be spared.

After the court’s orders, the NMMC conducted a drive against illegal hoardings. The corporation then informed the division bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and AP Bhangale that it had removed almost all the illegal hoardings till last night and the remaining ones would be removed within a couple of days.

The judges appreciated the efforts taken by the corporations and hoped that this drive would be sustained; Observing that awareness needs to be created, the court said, "Responsibility does not lie with the corporation alone, but also on the local police and local political leaders.’ The court also spoke about the necessity of all political leaders being counseled relating to this issue.  

The court also suggested that the corporations constitute a nodal agency comprising NGOs and members of the civil society to help the civic body in tackling the problem. The matter has now been posted for further compliance on April 25.