HYDERABAD: Justice N V Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court has issued contempt notices to Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan for alleged violation of earlier court directions on the state’s Outdoor Advertising Policy-2026.
The court directed the principal secretary to respond, either in person or through counsel, on April 9, warning that failure to do so would lead to ex parte proceedings.
The case was filed by the Telangana Outdoor Media Owners Association (TOMO), which challenged the implementation of the policy. It alleged that authorities enforced the policy despite the High Court’s February 20 directions to consider stakeholders’ representations and provide a hearing before finalisation.
TOMO said it had submitted detailed representations on February 4, 6 and 18, raising technical and safety concerns, supported by JNTUH engineers’ reports and independent studies. However, the policy was issued on March 4 without any hearing or notice.
Terming this wilful disobedience, the association filed the contempt case on March 26. The court took cognisance and posted the matter for April 9.