Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Monday expressed its disinclination to intervene in the decision of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in prohibiting display of advertisements by various advertising agencies on all hoardings, unipoles, unistructures, arches, obligatory span structures, footover bridges and cantilevers in the city.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan and Justice V. Ramasubramanian was dealing with an appeal by Outdoor Advertising Media and 31 other advertising agencies challenging an order of a single judge. He had refused to stay a circular issued by the GHMC on July 13, 2018 prohibiting the display of advertisements on all hoarding unipoles and other structures in the city.
The bench said it was the duty of the executive to protect the people from the accidents and it was in the realm of the executive to decide whether to prohibit or allow advertisements in the civic body limits in view of public safety and the court would not intervene in the matter. The counsel for the appellants argued that the action of the GHMC was wholly illegal, arbitrary, unjust, unreasonable, irrational and contrary to the principles of natural justice, to the provisions of the GHMC Act 1955 besides being violative of Article 14 191g 21 and 300A of Constitution of India.
The counsel submitted that there was a contradiction with regard to the term of the prohibition in the circular; at one place it said that the prohibition was till August 14 and in another place it was mentioned that the prohibition would continue till further orders. The counsel told the court that the GHMC had not shown any scientific reason for imposing the prohibition.
