Authorities' license must to display advt boards in rly

The Madras High Court today made it clear that advertisers have to obtain permission from local authorities concerned to display advertisement boards in railway stations.
The court was disposing of several petitions and appeals from advertisers seeking a direction to forbear authorities from interfering with their right to carry on business by keeping "display Non-Lit boards" at the railway stations in terms of the license granted by the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Southern Railways.
The Court had in 2001 dimissed the contention of the Railways that no local authorities' license was required for displaying advertisement boards at railway stations.
Referring to this, the First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T.S.Sivagnanam, today said petitioners have to seek the local authorities' permission for displaying the boards.

The petitioners should file the application within 15 days from today and "the Corporation/District Collector (whoever is the authority concerned) will dispose of the application within a period of thirty days thereafter."
The bench further made it clear "unless the permission is granted, the interim orders (allowing display of the boards) shall stand extinguished and if the permission is so granted, naturally it will be governed by the terms and conditions of the permission."
When counsel for Southern Railways brought to the court's notice that similar writ petitions were pending adjudication, the bench directed that all the petitions be listed before the First Bench on August 18.