Three-member bench says there is no law which permits putting up hoardings on public property
Karachi
The Supreme Court ordered the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, cantonment boards and other authorities concerned to remove within 15 days all the billboards installed without permission at public property within their jurisdiction.
“There is no law which permits the KMC, DMC, cantonment boards or any other agency in Karachi to install billboards or hoardings on a public property,” a three-member bench headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed in a matter regarding illegal advertising signboards in the city.
“Such an act on the part of the permission granting agency is against the civil rights of the citizens. The civil rights of the citizens cannot be hampered with by erecting the billboards or hoardings on the civic amenity meant for the use and benefit of public at large; besides, such an act would endanger the life and property of the common man.”
The bench further observed that no billboard could be permitted to be installed on any public property by any authority under the garb of by-laws, as that would militate against the civil rights of the public at large.
It said billboards/hoardings installed on public property under any licence or lease “shall be uprooted by June 30, 2016” by the concerned advertising agencies that owned those poles or displaying materials or by the contractors if they owned such material or by the authorities with whose permission the billboards or hoardings had been put up.
The apex court observed that trees on roads and greenbelts were cut off for the installation of hoardings. It noted that public property included roads, sidewalks, overhead bridges, underpasses, overhead pedestrian bridges, walkways, greenbelts, pedestrian lanes and storm water drains, which could not be allowed to be used for the installation of billboards.
In the intervening period, the court ordered that no permission “shall be granted by any of the authority in Karachi to install billboards/hoardings on any portion of public place/property”.
It directed the additional attorney general to hold meetings, within a month, with all stakeholders which granted permission for the installation of such hoardings in the city to finalise amendments to the proposed by-laws applicable beyond the public property so that citywide uniformity could be achieved on the one hand and safety measures for the citizens of Karachi were ensured on the other, and submit a report within one month.
Additional Attorney General Salman Talibuddin submitted an interim report to the court, mentioning that meetings were held in the office of the city commissioner with the objective of achieving citywide uniformity for the installation of billboards. The interim report further reflected that all stakeholders, who attended the meetings, proposed amendments to the by-laws.
The court asked the advocate general of Sindh what the viewpoint of the provincial government was on the issue of the installation of billboards on public properties. He submitted that no billboards of any nature could be allowed to be installed on public property.
The additional attorney general was also of the view that billboards could not be put up on public property.
Faisal Cantonment had submitted a report mentioning that 217 billboards were installed within its jurisdiction legally.
The report further mentioned that 31 signboards at navy sites, 33 at Civil Aviation Authority, 26 at the station headquarters, two at the Pakistan Air Force and one at a Pakistan Railways site were installed illegally.
The KMC and all DMCs also submitted compliance reports mentioning that 60 billboards were removed in District South, 956 in District Korangi, 25 in District West and 38 out of 1,996 billboards in District East.
The court also directed the office to send the order to the registrar of the Sindh High Court for placing it before the chief justice and all other judges for their information.