BENGALURU: Unhappy with the weak response by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on the directions regarding action against unauthorised hoardings, banners and flexes, and also against erring officials in the city, the Karnataka High Court, on Tuesday orally observed that the fate of the best city in the country can’t be left to the mercy of somebody else or God.
The division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit made these observations while directing the BBMP to file a proper action-taken report in compliance with the directions issued by the court on the last date of the hearing.
The court further observed that it cannot tolerate if the authorities are blissfully silent, and have a casual approach. The authorities who are heading the BBMP must know their duties and responsibilities. “Those who are sleeping can be woken up, but those who are pretending can’t,” the bench observed orally, referring to a Marathi proverb.
Meanwhile, a senior advocate representing a petitioner alleged that there is an unholy nexus between the violators and BBMP officials, and hence no action is being taken. Though the court gave sufficient opportunities, the BBMP has not filed its response on the mushrooming of commercial hoardings in the city, violating the bylaws about permission and payment of prescribed fees to erect such hoardings. This is a fit case to initiate contempt proceedings against BBMP, he argued.
The court noted that the senior counsel was justified in submitting to this court that the growth of such hoardings leads to creating an impression among the public that either the authorities are casual in their duties, or for reasons best known to them, have been showing utter negligence. In both situations, the sufferers are the public at large. “We hope and trust that the corporation would take serious note of these observations and would file a proper detailed comprehensive response within three weeks from today,” the court said.