Disposed

Court on Its Own Motion v. Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

Delhi HC17 Feb 2020W.P.(C)/746/2019

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

This PIL concerning illegal hoardings in South Delhi was disposed of after the Court reviewed the Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy, 2017 and an attached action-taken report showing significant remedial measures by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

What did the court decide?

Disposed of after holding there was no reason to further monitor the matter in light of the responsive affidavit and action taken report.

Court on Its Own Motion Vs Govt of NCT of Delhi… — Municipal and Town Planning | Delhi HC (2020)

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$~12

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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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Date of decision: 17^th February, 2020

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W.P.(C) 746/2019 COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION ..... Petitioner

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Through Court on its own motion

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versus

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GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents Through Mr. Ajjay Aroraa, Mr. Kapil Dutta and Mr. Anuj Bhargava, Advs. for SDMC

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CORAM: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C.HARI SHANKAR

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O R D E R % 17.02.2020

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D.N. PATEL, CHIEF JUSTICE (ORAL)

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This writ petition has been initiated by this Court on its own motion as a Public Interest Litigation on receipt of letters/complaints about the illegal hoardings, banners, PVC flex, small hoardings, posters etc. in the area falling under South Delhi Municipal Corporation which are stated to be in violation of the provisions of the Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy, 2017.

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Notice was issued by this Court and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has filed a counter affidavit dated 21^st November, 2019. Paragraphs 3 to 5 of the said counter affidavit, filed by SDMC, read as under:

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“3. That it is respectfully submitted on behalf of the answering

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Page 1 of 5

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W.P.(C) 746/2019

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Respondent/ South DMC that the hoardings in the jurisdiction of municipalities are governed by 'The Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy (2017)', which is in force as on date and, which clearly states as follows:

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a. No advertising device has to be placed anywhere under any category which will obstruct the free movement of road users. b. The distance between two advertisement Unipole devices should not be less than 75m on highways and main city roads. c. No Building wraps, are permitted in area/properties other than malls, airport area, metro station buildings and cinema halls. The copy of the said policy is annexed herewith as Annexure-A .

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4. That the policy is self contained and takes care of all the concerns of public interest and various court orders.

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5. That even otherwise any hoarding which is in violation of the provisions of Section 143 to 146 and Section 430 of the DMC Act, are actionable and the department initiates prompt action as and when such irregularities are detected. Further no illegal and unlawful hoardings are permitted by the answering Respondent/South DMC and regular actions are initiated against the illegal and unauthorised hoardings. That the consolidated zone wise lists of the action initiated by the answering Respondent/ South DMC against such illegal and unauthorised hoardings are collectively annexed herewith as Annexure-B .”

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In view of the aforesaid affidavit, it appears that there is already a policy in place called the “Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy, 2017”, floated

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Page 2 of 5

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W.P.(C) 746/2019

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by the respondent/SDMC to regulate the advertising devices. Learned counsel for the SDMC submitted that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has been taking requisite action against the violators from time to time and the actions taken by it in recent past are mentioned in the counter affidavit. For ready reference, the action taken report against the illegal big and small hoardings, PVC flex, banners, iron rods, gates entries, posters etc. annexed as Annexure B to the counter affidavit is reproduced hereunder:

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Action Taken Report for Removal of illegal Hoardings, Boards, Banners, PVC Plates etc.

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Sl. No.	Date	Big Hoardings	Small Hoardings	PVC Plates	Banners	Iron Boards	Gate Entries	Total	Zone
1	09.07.2019	5	12	120	5	0	0	142	South
2	15.07.2019	2	3	20	0	0	0	25	South
3	26.07.2019	2	0	12	5	0	0	19	South
4	05.08.2019	12	8	20	5	0	0	45	South
5	17.08.2019	12	15	17	5	0	0	49	South
6	03.09.2019	5	25	12	4	0	0	46	South
7	13.09.2019	7	20	15	3	0	0	45	South
8	24.09.2019	2	8	12	3	0	0	25	South
9	25.09.2019	2	15	10	2	0	0	29	South
10	09.10.2019	5	31	15	0	0	0	51	South
11	14.10.2019	15	120	50	10	0	0	195	South
12	17.10.2019	35	170	70	15	8	0	298	South
13	04.11.2019	20	125	17	10	0	0	172	South
14	11.11.2019	11	75	0	3	0	0	89	Central
15	12.11.2019	6	52	0	5	0	1	64	Central
16	13.11.2019	12	43	0	2	0	0	57	Central
17	14.11.2019	9	80	0	2	0	2	93	Central
18	15.11.2019	15	95	8	0	0	0	118	Central
19	16.11.2019	7	69	13	0	0	0	89	Central
20	01.08.2019 to 15.11.2019	2822	3814	0	1574	1770	0	998 0	West
21	25.10.2019 to 31.10.2019	273	0	0	6	0	0	279	Najafgarh

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3 of 5

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W.P.(C) 746/2019

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22	01.11.2019 to 07.11.2019	863	0	0	17	0	0	0	880	Najafgarh
23	08.11.2019 to 14.11.2019	471	0	0	5	0	0	0	476	Najafgarh
	Grand Total	4613	4780	411	1681	1778	0	0	132 66

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Action Taken Report for Removal of illegal Hoardings, Boards, Banners, PVC Plates etc. in Ward NO. 087-S (C.R Park)

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		Detail of Item	s Seized by AC	/South Zon	e/SDMC duri	ng the actions
Sl. No.	Date	Big Hoardings	Small Hoardings	PVC Plates	Banners	Iron Boards	Total
1	09.07.2019	5	12	120	5	0	142
2	15.07.2019	2	3	20	0	0	25
3	26.07.2019	2	0	12	5	0	19
4	05.08.2019	12	8	20	5	0	45
5	17.08.2019	12	15	17	5	0	49
6	03.09.2019	5	25	12	4	0	46
7	13.09.2019	7	20	15	3	0	45
8	24.09.2019	2	8	12	3	0	25
9	25.09.2019	2	15	10	2	0	29
10	09.10.2019	5	31	15	0	0	51
11	14.10.2019	15	120	50	10	0	195
12	17.10.2019	35	170	70	15	8	298
13	04.11.2019	20	125	17	10	0	172
	Grand Total	124	552	390	67	8	1141

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Action Taken Report for Removal of illegal Hoardings, Boards, Banners, PVC Plates etc.

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Sl. No.	Date	Big Hoardings	Small Hoardings	PVC Plates	Banners	Gate Entries	Total	Zone
1	11.11.2019	11	75	0	3	0	89	Central
2	12.11.2019	6	52	0	5	1	64	Central
3	13.11.2019	12	43	0	2	0	57	Central
4	14.11.2019	9	80	0	2	2	93	Central
5	15.11.2019	15	95	8	0	0	118	Central
6	16.11.2019	7	69	13	0	0	89	Central

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4 of 5

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W.P.(C) 746/2019

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Grand Total 60 414 21 12 0 0 0 510

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Thus, looking to the counter affidavit filed by the SDMC and action taken report (Annexure B) annexed thereto, we see no reason to further monitor this matter. However, we expect from the South Delhi Municipal Corporation that they will initiate timely and prompt action against illegal hoardings etc. which are installed in contravention of the Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy, 2017 as and when the same come to their knowledge.

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With these observations, this writ petition is hereby disposed of.

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CHIEF JUSTICE
C.HARI SHANKAR, J.
FEBRUARY 17, 2020
r.bararia

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W.P.(C) 746/2019

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Page 5 of 5

Court on Its Own Motion v. Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Court on Its Own Motion v. Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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