PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has expressed utter displeasure with Mapusa Municipal Council’s decision to withdraw Show Cause Notices (SCN) to hoarding owners citing these existed before the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations 2010 came into effect.
During the hearing of a PIL writ petition on Wednesday, the High Court proposed to hear the affected parties on the next hearing date on July 29, before passing an appropriate order.
“…As the 14 show cause notices on which the orders (of the Chief Officer) dated April 26 are passed by the Chief Officer of the Mapusa Municipal Council dropping the proceedings, we propose to hear the affected parties and then pass appropriate orders… We are not at all satisfied with the manner in which the show cause notices are withdrawn as this would virtually amount to permitting the hoardings to remain forever,” the Division bench of Justice M S Karnik and Justice Valmiki Menezes noted.
During the hearing, Adv S D Padiyar submitted that out of 18 SCN, 14 were withdrawn by the Mapusa Municipal Council whereas one hoarding was demolished and orders for demolition of three others were issued.
The notices were withdrawn pursuant to the hearing with the concerned parties, the respondent submitted. The Bench noted that they perused these orders which cited reason for withdrawal is because these hoardings were put up prior to the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations 2010 came into force. Therefore some of the provisions of the said regulations were deemed inapplicable.
The Court however expressed disappointment with the Mapusa Council's findings stating, “We are not at all satisfied with the manner in which the show cause notices are withdrawn as this would virtually amount to permitting the hoardings to remain forever…”
“We propose to hear the affected parties and then pass appropriate orders. The Mapusa Municipal Council is requested to inform the 14 persons that on the next date, they may appear before this Court and respond to what is indicated…” it stated.
Meanwhile, additional government advocate Deep Shirodkar submitted that in line with SOPs, a weekly report about the action taken will be requested from the Traffic Department to monitor the situation regarding illegal hoardings effectively.
In its order during the last hearing, the High Court sanctioned authorities to take action against illegal hoardings including those on highways and allowed them to criminally prosecute the owners who fail to pull them down within the stipulated time.
