Chennai: Social activist Traffic Ramaswamy has approached the Madras high court to direct the authorities to take penal action against officials of Salem district for their failure to take action against erection of unauthorised digital banners on roads by the AIADMK members during MGR centenary ceremony on September 30 at Salem.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar before whom the PIL filed by Ramaswamy came up for hearing, permitted the petitioner to implead the municipal administration department as a party respondent in the case and posted to November 3, further hearing of the case.
According to Ramaswamy, he received phone calls from the public on September 27 from Salem and they informed him about the erection of huge unauthorised digital banners by digging the roads by the AIADMK party members in the wake of the MGR centenary celebration.
The authorities, including higher police officers in Salem, instead of taking action against such illegal digital banners, they ordered their subordinates to give protection to them. On his inquiry, he came to know that all the banners were erected without permission and by digging the roads, posing danger to the general public.
Already this court had ordered the authorities to take action against unauthorised banners. As per law, erection of unauthorised banners was punishable with one-year imprisonment or a Rs 5,000 fine.
But till date, no case was registered and no one was convicted. He sent a representation to the authorities on October 1 to take penal action against the officials who failed to discharge their duty by taking action against the erection of unauthorised banners in Salem. Since there was no response, he has filed the present PIL, he added.
