Implement outdoor ad policy in 2 months: HC to civic bodies

Delhi High Court today gave two months' time to the city's municipal corporations to implement the 2007 Outdoor Advertising Policy (OAP) and to ensure that all advertisements contrary to it are removed.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva while directing the civic bodies to implement the OAP in letter and spirit, made it clear that if action is not taken against those violating the policy, the Commercial Officers (Advertisements) of each corporation shall be held responsible.
The court also said that its direction to implement the OAP would also include any site offered on tender, in violation of the policy, for putting up unipoles, rooftop hoardings, billboards, etc.

The corporations were also directed them to take action under the 2009 Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act and to file a status report on August 14 indicating all the steps taken by them to implement the Act and the policy.
It noted that lawyers appearing for each corporation "were unequivocal in their statements" that the policy and Act were being violated.
The court passed the order on a PIL filed by Colonel (retd) Shivraj Kumar, a 83-year-old resident of the city, who contended that advertisement hoardings, banners, posters and billboards, of any size, are being put up on residential buildings in violation of the policy and Act.

It was also hearing a plea filed by Mumbai-based Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) and an application by Delhi Outdoor Advertising Association (DOAA) both of which have also sought implementation of the policy.
DOAA alleged that the corporations themselves are giving permission for hoardings and billboards which are in violation of OAP and also raised the grievance that there were no designated sites for informal advertisements in the interest of freedom of speech as provided under the policy.
IOAA in its plea had alleged that due to "mushrooming" of illegal hoardings, those who are putting up such structures legally are being affected.