We will not hear the matter: Madras High Court to PIL plea

CHENNAI: Frustrated over government’s inaction to carry out the High Court’s orders to remove illegal banners and hoardings, a division bench of the Madras High Court on Friday did not entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on a similar issue.

All the orders issued by the court on earlier litigations continue to remain as paper orders. When, periodically, contempt petitions are filed, in spite of notices ordered in them, the menace of illegal banners continues. “Therefore, we don’t propose to hear the matter,” the bench of Justices TS Sivagnanam and Bhavani Subbaroyan, said on Friday.

The bench bemoaned the inaction on the part of the authorities, when yet another PIL, from K Dhakshina Moorthy of MGR Nagar in the city, came up for hearing today. He had pointed out that the High Court had passed several orders earlier to remove unauthorised banners and hoardings. But they were not complied with. All the relevant rules were ignored by the licensing authorities while granting permission.
“In our view, the request sought for by the petitioner is not required to be granted, as in several writ petitions courts have been issuing directions and the enforcement agencies, namely the state, is unable to enforce the orders for reasons best known to them,” the bench said. However, they adjourned the matter by two weeks.

Petition
Moorthy’s representations to various authorities to remove the unauthorised banners and hoardings, which posed danger to the lives of the pedestrians and drivers, were unheard. He asked the authorities to consider his representation dated June 6, and order the removal of unauthorised hoardings and banners all over the city, and on all the major roads leading to Kanchipuram.