The issue of putting up banners in public places has once again come into the limelight following a recent direction from the Puducherry District Court to the District Administration to comply with the orders of the Madras High Court to remove unauthorised publicity materials from the roads of Puducherry.
Early this month, Chief Judge T. Chandrasekaran issued an order directing the District Collector to remove “unauthorised banners, flex banners, flex boards, hoardings, arches, cut-outs and thatty boards, by adhering to the High Court orders.”
Recalling the orders of the High Court in 2021 and 2022 banning construction of publicity materials in public places in Puducherry, the Chief Judge said, “If any such deviance/violation is noticed by the district court, it will be brought to the attention of the High Court for initiating contempt proceedings.”
After the Chief Judge gave the direction to the District Collector, D. Ramesh, the petitioner in the High Court, wrote to the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Secretary drawing their attention about the continuing menace of banners.
“Despite the orders from the High Court and now the District Court, illegal hoardings come up in public places posing threat to pedestrians and vehicle users. Now, the Chief Judge has directed the Collector to initiate steps to remove hoardings, banners and other publicity materials from public properties. I will wait for a week to see whether officials are taking steps to remove the materials, otherwise I will file a contempt petition in the court,” Mr. Ramesh, a resident of Drowpathiamman Koil Street in Dharmapuri here, told The Hindu.
P. Devanathan, president of People’ s Pulse, a Puducherry based civil society group, said the recent direction from the District Court was a welcome step towards addressing the issue. “It is for the first time that such a direction has come from the local court. We expect the intervention by the local court to help in solving the problem of illegal banners and hoardings. Civil society groups have taken up the issue several times with Revenue, Public Works Department, Police and Local Administration but did not find any favourable response from the administration. It is good that the local court has intervened and we want the local court to monitor the implementation of the High Court order,” he said.
He said the district administration should launch a dedicated helpline number for citizens to forward complaints pertaining to illegal banners. “Now when you take up the issue with the police, they are turning a blind eye. Illegal hoardings are a threat to the safety of road users. The district administration should launch a dedicated helpline for people to complain,” he added.
According to a retired law college lecturer, the officers are liable to be punished for the contempt of court. “Tenure for the office of political executive is limited to five years. The judiciary has been vested with inherent powers to enforce judicial orders. Due to non compliance of orders, if courts punish the bureaucrats, it will ruin their career,” he said.
New Collector convenes meeting
A. Kulothungan, who has taken over as district Collector on Wednesday convened a high-level meeting to discuss the steps to be taken to remove illegal hoardings. “ A task force will be soon constituted to adhere to the court direction and remove all illegal publicity materials,” he said.
