The Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government and the Chennai civic body today to bring in an amendment to make it mandatory for all future hoardings and banners to display whether permission has been granted.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P T Asha, said if the permission had been approved, the date, number and other particulars should be indicated to enable stringent action against unauthorised hoardings and banners.
"The government and the (municipal) corporation of Chennai shall consider within six months from the date of the order for an amendment to the rules making it mandatory for all further display of hoardings and banners to indicate whether permission has been granted," it said in the order.
"Needless to mention that banners and hoardings can only be put up in strict compliance of the provisions of law after getting requisite approvals or permissions," the bench added.
The court gave the order while hearing a PIL by social activist 'Traffic' Ramaswamy. It also observed that there was no need to entertain the plea as the court had already passed several orders.
The petitioner sought for a direction to restore the statutory power of district collectors to take regulatory measures regarding display boards, digital and cloth banners and other hoardings in the state and also take punitive action if necessary.
The social worker had alleged that the people have been put to great hardship due to the mindless acts of erecting banners by "ruling party activists", against whom no action had been taken by the authorities. He added that the civic authorities were turning a blind eye to these violations.
In October last year, the high court had passed an order imposing a blanket ban on banners or hoardings carrying images of people who are alive, across the state.
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