BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Friday informed the Karnataka High Court that there were 2,547 illegal hoardings/structures out of 4,178 in the city and action will be taken to dismantle them after giving reasonable time to the property owners.
BBMP Counsel V Sreenidhi submitted before a division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice R Devdas that none of these responded to a public notice issued by the BBMP nor claimed that they have valid licence.
He also submitted that they will take action against them as per law after serving notice. The civic body is also contemplating about the safety measures that needs to be taken if those structures are to be dismantled. The entire city is free from flexes now, he added.
Taking note of this, the court asked the BBMP to complete the process by Tuesday. It also observed, “We should be proud of Bengaluru and everybody’s cooperation is required to regain the glory of the city”.
Meanwhile, the BBMP counsel informed the court that they had finalised the advertisement policy which was submitted to the government on August 29 for approval. When the court sought for the status, Advocate General Uday Holla said they had finalised it while giving 30 days’ time to file objections, if any, as per law.
The court also sought details on allowing advertisements on public toilets, skywalks and bus shelters, using bio-degradable materials, saying it had to be examined.
Model By-Laws For Gps
The Advocate General said there were model by-laws for gram panchayat to regulate unauthorised flex/banners/buntings in Gram Panchayat limits. The government will issue a notification to adopt it by the GPs. Then the court asked the Advocate General to submit it to the court for examination and issue notification later. The court also observed that like the BBMP, urban local bodies in other cities and towns should have by-laws.
Accused Pleaded Guilty In 220 Cases
The Advocate General informed the court that the accused in 220 cases pleaded guilty out of total 234 cases registered in relation to unauthorised flexes. In two cases, the police filed ‘B’ reports. Then the court asked the details of the cases wherein ‘B’ report was filed and also the accused who pleaded guilty, with their address and phone number
Ban On Advt Challenged
Popular Advertisers and some other agencies moved the High Court against the resolution passed by the BBMP on August 6 for banning of advertisements, flexes/hoardings for one year in the city. The petitioner agencies have claimed that they have erected iron structures after obtaining permission from the BBMP and paying taxes. They claimed that the resolution has taken away their bread and butter. Justice B Veerappa adjourned the hearing.
HC refuses to stay new rules of warning on tobacco packets
The High Court on Friday declined to stay the Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Second Amendment Rules, 2018. This was after the Assistant Solicitor General C Shashikanth informed the court that the said rules have been challenged before the apex court, which also declined to stay them. Shashikanth also informed the court that the Supreme Court had stayed the Karnataka HC’s order reducing the pictorial warning to 40 per cent of the cigarette pack and restored 85 per cent norm. Hearing it, Justice Aravind Kumar adjourned the hearing of the petition challenging the new rules given effect from September 1, 2018.