Court No. - 38
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 36173 of 2018 Petitioner :- Allahabad Outdoor Advertising Welfare Association And 14 Others Respondent :- Nagar Nigam Allahabad And Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Tarun Agrawal Counsel for Respondent :- Sunil Dutt Kautilya
Hon'ble Abhinava Upadhya,J. Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.
By means of this writ petition, the petitioners have come up before this Court challenging the notice dated 10.10.2018 ( Annexure no.2 to the writ petition) issued by Commissioner, Nagar Nigam, Allahabad by which the petitioners,who have their sky signs i.e. high rise hoardings, have been required to remove such hoardings within one week from the date of receipt of such notice. This power is purported to have been exercised under Section 306 of the U.P. Municipal Corporations Act, 1959( hereinafter referred to as "Act).
Sri Ravi Kant, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Tarun Agrawal, appearing for the petitioners submits that the permission for advertisement and hoardings was to be taken under sections 192 and 193 of the Act but after the promulgation of G.S.T., this provisions have been deleted. Now the rules under which permission is to be taken is provided under Section 305 and 306 of the Act. Section 305 (1) reads as under :
"(1) No person shall, without the written permission of the [Municipal Commissioner], erect, fix or retain any sky-sign of the kind prescribed by the rules whether existing on the appointed day or not. Such written permission shall be granted, renewed, or any period not exceeding two years from the date of such permission or renewal, subject to the conditions that such permission shall be deemed to be void if-
(a any addition is made to the sky-sign except for the purpose of making it secure under the direction of the [Municipal Commissioner];
(b) any change is made in the sky-sign or any part thereof;
(c) the sky-sign or any part thereof fall either through accident, decay or any other cause;
(d) any addition or alteration is made, to or in, the building or structure upon or over which the sky-sign is erected, fixed or retained, involving the disturbance of the sky-sign or any part thereof;
(e) the building or structure upon or over which the sky-sign is erected, fixed or retained becomes unoccupied or be demolished or destroyed".
No person shall without the written permission of the Municipal Corporation erect, fix or retain any sky-sign of the kind prescribed by the rules whether existing on the appointed day or not. Such permission shall be granted or renewed for any period not exceeding two years from the date of each such permission or renewal subject to the certain conditions.
Learned Senior Advocate emphasizes that such type of sky- sign were to be prescribed under rules but no rules have been framed by the State Government as contemplated in Section 305 of the Act.
Sri S.D.Kautilya, learned counsel for the Nagar Nigam, Allahabad, however, submits that although rules, have not been framed as contemplated in Section 305 of the U.P. Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 but there are bye-laws, which are framed and the petitioners have not taken any permission. If the petitioners apply, the claim of the petitioners will be decided under existing rules as well as keeping in mind the judgements rendered by this Court.
On consideration of the arguments raised by the learned counsel for the parties,we are of the opinion that the absence of rules in this regard would not mean unfettered liberty to the petitioners to put a sky-sign anywhere and for any purpose. Such putting of sky-sign could also be hazardous for public safety and some reasonable restriction has to be applied keeping in mind the public interest.
Sri Sunil Dutt Kautilya, learned counsel appearing for the respondents-Nagar Nigam has drawn our attention to the existing rules in this behalf which are in the shape of bye laws framed by the Nagar Nigam on 20.11.2015. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the petitioners to seek permission from the Municipal Commissioner, Allahabad Nagar Nigam by filing an application within a week. The Municipal Commissioner will pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within a fortnight from the date such application is made in this behalf.
Till final orders are passed by the Municipal Commissioner the existing sky-sign of the petitioners will not be removed except in accordance with law.
With the aforesaid observation/direction, the writ petition stands finally disposed of.
Order Date :- 30.10.2018 aks ( Ajai Bhanot,J. ) ( Abhinava Upadhya,J.)