HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court has directed the GHMC to confiscate the material displayed on the pavements by shopkeepers unauthorisedly.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar made this order in a plea by Laxminivas Agarwal, a resident, seeking directions to the authorities to take steps for removal of unauthorised encroachments on road margins of Siddiambar Bazar and Mahboobgunj. The petitioner sought the court to declare the action of the respondent authorities in not taking steps for removal of encroachments on road margins as illegal and arbitrary.
The standing counsel for GHMC submitted that it is impossible to keep a watch and check all the times as it is not a permanent encroachment. Reacting to the submissions, the bench said, “We are unable to appreciate the stand of the municipal corporation. The pavement is owned by the municipal corporation and it is meant for the use of the pedestrians, and not allowed to be used otherwise.”
Noticing that the shop keepers are using the pavements keeping their merchandise and other material for display even after steps having been taken, the bench directed the municipal authorities with the help of police officials to make an announcement either through TV or public address system in the area everyday warning the shop keepers and other people against wrongful use of the pavement for display of their saleable articles and merchandise.
The bench said despite of such a warning, if anyone uses the same then it will be open for the corporation officials with the help of the police to remove those articles and to take possession thereof for wrongful use.