Inspect Safety-Compliance Of Billboards Across Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court To City Municipal Commissioner

The Gujarat High Court has recently asked the Municipal Commissioner of the Ahmedabad to ensure that billboards/hoardings installed across the city are inspected and those set up without requisite permissions are removed immediately.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi passed the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition asserting that billboards / hoardings installed in Ahmedabad at various places are posing a “danger to public life” as they have not been put up by complying with the norms prescribed by the city Corporation.

During the hearing on July 12 the counsel for the petitioner–Sharma Parvatiben Chimanlal submitted that with the onset of the rainy season, the chances of such hoardings/billboards collapsing has increased to a great extent.

Meanwhile the senior advocate appearing for the corporation said that with the onset of the rainy season, the exercise of inspecting the billboards is undertaken each year. He added that the exercise will be conducted and an inspection report on the same will be submitted before the court.

In view of this submission the bench said, “...we provide that the Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation shall ensure that the inspection be carried out in the entire city of Ahmedabad, by whatever number of teams, he thinks deem fit to create for the purpose. The Inspection Report along with the personal affidavit of the Estate Officer, Director Estate and Town Planning Head of Department, shall be submitted on the next date fixed”.

The bench further said that faulty structures have to be “removed or corrected under the instructions of the Municipal Commissioner” and any such billboard / hoarding, installed without requisite permission is to be “removed with immediate effect”.

The matter is next listed on August 2.

Case Title: Sharma Parvatiben Chimanlal v Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation & Ors.

Counsel for the petitioner: advocate Rohit N Patel

Counsel for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation: Senior advocate Kamal Trivedi and advocate GH Virk.

Click Here To Read/Download Order