The Bombay High Court has issued a decisive ruling, prohibiting illegal hoardings by political, commercial, and religious organizations in public spaces. The court emphasized the need to prioritize public safety and prevent hazards posed by such unauthorized displays.
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MUMBAI: On 22nd February, the Bombay High Court, led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor, declared that no political, religious, or commercial organization should be legally allowed to use public spaces such as roads and footpaths for displaying their hoardings. This landmark decision comes in response to a series of petitions, including one for contempt, seeking compliance with a 2017 order instructing the removal of illegal hoardings and banners.
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The court emphasized the inherent dangers posed by unauthorized hoardings and banners to pedestrians and other road users.
Chief Justice Upadhyaya and Justice Doctor stressed that –
“No individual or group, be it a political party or commercial organization or religious denomination, can legally be permitted to utilize public spaces such as footpaths, streetlights, and roads for personal gains and advertisement, especially considering the hazards that such hoardings and banners cause to pedestrians and other users of the road.”
Expressing concern over the audacity of certain groups in erecting banners on streetlights, the bench issued a stern warning to the public.
“It is beyond comprehension as to how any group of people can take liberty of putting up a banner on streetlights. This calls upon us an appeal to the general population and every individual and to come alive to the situation and not to indulge in any such activity that encourages such illegality, having the potential of causing harm, even physical harm to pedestrians and other users of roads.”
The court’s attention was drawn to a contempt petition among others, seeking adherence to the 2017 order directing the removal of illegal hoardings. Senior advocate Anil Sakhare, representing the BMC, informed the court that the municipal body had taken stringent actions, registering approximately 22 FIRs in the past year and dismantling over 10,000 political banners.
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Sakhare elaborated, stating-
“During the last year between January 1 to December 31, information of 10,839 political banners, 4,551 commercial, and 32,481 religious banners were sent to police stations through 410 letters, and 22 FIRs have been registered.”
Despite the BMC’s efforts, the petitioners contended that the number of illegal banners and hoardings on footpaths, public roads, and those covering traffic lights did not witness a significant decline. The bench meticulously examined the photographic evidence submitted by the petitioners, underscoring that haphazard illegal hoardings had the potential to obstruct pedestrians and road users.
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Case Title: [Suswarajya Foundation, Satara & Anr v. Collector Satara & Anr and connected petitions].