SC allows three-day extension to remove billboards

Those who fail to comply will face contempt of court charges, warns apex court

KARACHI: If the civic agencies do not remove all outdoor advertising billboards within three days, the Supreme Court (SC) will frame contempt of court charges against them.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, clarified that action will be initiated against the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the cantonment boards and the administrators of the district municipal corporations in whose jurisdictions hoardings will be found after the deadline has passed. The bench was hearing a case regarding illegal and unauthorised billboards and hoardings in public spaces in the city.

On July 14, the apex court had granted a week more to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), cantonment boards, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), district municipal corporations (DMCs) and other civic bodies for taking down illegal billboards, as the deadline set by it expired on June 30.

On Friday's proceedings, Justice Muslim inquired from the additional attorney-general, Salman Talibuddin, and provincial advocate-general, Barrister Zamir Ghumro, whether billboards had been pulled down during week-long time granted by the court. Talibuddin said 98% of the hoardings had been removed from the limits of the federal civic agencies.

The bench members observed that the main thoroughfare of Sharae Faisal was dotted with such billboards, and questioned in which civic agency's jurisdiction falls the Kalapur locality. KMC administrator Laeeq Ahmed said that the area in question falls within the limits of Karachi cantonment board.

Showing their annoyance over the conduct of the relevant authorities, the bench members observed that the officials were shifting responsibility on each other. When the bench called the Karachi cantonment boards' CEO to explain why court's order was not complied with, they were informed that the officer had gone for a trip abroad.

This further irked the bench members, who told the law officers that they had seen the photographs that showed that billboards were still intact in various localities.

Taking serious notice of the CEO's absence, the bench asked how the officer could travel abroad when it was known that his hearing was fixed in court.

The judges also made it clear that in case the illegal billboards were not removed within three days then the charge of contempt of court will be framed on the next date against the heads of all those civic bodies in whose jurisdiction such boards/hoardings were found still intact.

"If the billboards are not removed within three days then the relevant officers will be held responsible without issuance of show-cause notices to them," said Justice Muslim to law officers representing the cantonment boards, the KMC, the DMCs and other agencies.

Background

The proceedings were initiated in 2011 on an application filed by a cantonment board, which had challenged the Sindh High Court's order that the cantonment could not levy tax on the outdoor billboards and hoardings within its jurisdiction.

Over the course of proceedings, the apex court declared that all billboards were unlawfully installed by different civic bodies across the city. Therefore, in May this year, it ordered all remove each and every billboard from the public property.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2016.