The illegal boards and banners on the roads are a source of constant public menace. A series of petitions were filed before the Kerala High Court which was taken up by the Court.
Court Decision
The Court directed the removal of the illegal banner and boards. The two-judge bench comprising of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly quoted that
“Nailing of trees is done for the purpose of putting up signboards, advertisements, drawing cable wires etc. In the light of the statutory provisions, which we have extracted above, a duty is cast upon the authorities concerned, under the respective Acts, to remove the nails, and consequently, the advertisement boards, pamphlets etc.”
The Court also noted that
“Conservation and preservation of trees, which have life, is required to be done, which in our opinion, is also an important aspect to be taken note of by the competent authorities, to ensure that no harm is caused to the trees.”
The Court also took into cognisance the judgement and guidelines in the case Shani Johnson v. Kochi Corporation and Another (2019 (3) KLT 277) while laying down guidelines.
Guidelines
The following are a few guidelines issued by the Kerala High Court in addition to the guidelines introduced in Shani Johnson’s case:
- No poles or frames or structures for arches, boards, placards, hoardings, display boards or banners shall be erected on any highway, public road, public passage or pedestrian pathway or pavement.
- Holes caused on pavements and roads, by reason of erection of frames, poles, structures, placards, hoardings, displaying boards, banners, etc., shall forthwith be repaired
- The Secretaries to the Government, LSGD, PWD, State Highways and Heads of Departments, shall issue appropriate instructions for effective implementation of the above said directions.
- The Road Safety Commissioner/Transport Commissioner directed to look into the damaging effect of roadside advertisements in the light of ‘Policy on Roadside Advertisements’ published by the Indian Road Congress, 1992
- The concerned Secretaries are directed to supervise the dismantling of outdoor billboards, unauthorized hoardings etc., which causes inconvenience to the commuters.
- A cluster of wires on trees and electrical poles, be regulated by the statutory authorities and the District Collectors are directed to take appropriate action for removal as per the existing rules.
- The Secretaries of Municipal Corporations and Municipalities in the State directed to take steps, to identify and remove unauthorized hoardings, banners, flex boards, temporary arches, posters etc.
- Likewise, the Secretaries of the Panchayats are directed to take steps to identify and remove unauthorized hoardings, banners, flex boards, temporary arches, posters etc.
Report regarding the removal of the above-mentioned unauthorized structures, outdoor hoardings/billboards be submitted by the competent authorities under the respective enactments, to the District Collectors, every month.
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