Sri Bhavani Ads V. The Union of India

WP/16377/2023

AI Insights

The case revolves around a writ petition filed by Sri Bhavani Ads, an advertising agency, against the Secunderabad Cantonment Board and the Union of India, challenging the legality of a notice issued for the removal of rooftop advertisement hoardings. The petitioners argued that the notice was issued without following due process and violated principles of natural justice, as the hoardings had been in place for many years and the board had previously accepted fees for them. The Cantonment Board defended its action by citing public safety concerns and adherence to a new advertisement policy that restricts such structures above 15 feet. The court's decision highlighted procedural improprieties in the issuance of the notice and reinforced the necessity of following established legal protocols in administrative actions.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 743375 (HC-TELANGANA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 11-12-2023
• Assessment Year: misc
• Laws Referred To: Article 226 of the Constitution of India, Cantonments Act, 2006
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: YANDAPALLY BABU; GADI KUMAR; K R KOTESHWAR RAO
• Assessee Lawyers: SUDHAKAR REDDY
• Keywords: Advertisement Hoardings; Audi alteram partem; Cantonment Board; Natural Justice; Public Safety; Writ of Mandamus
• Section: 226; 297; 318

Judgement Text

"132521 HIGH COURT FORTHE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (SPecial Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY,THE ELEVENTfI DAY OF DECEMAER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY THREE PRESENT THE HONOURAALE MRS JUSTICE SUREPALLI NANOA WRIT PETITION NO: 1 6377 oF 2023 Between: 2 AND 1 2 '3L:E3li#.t'Ais?\"'-{i'&iJ3:',b\",1?i5y?j',F:\"}\"35\"111i:3An'?o??'[?T: 500056. il#;ir;\" Reddv, S/o P'Laxmi Naravana Reddv' 'er:il;li\"R/.' G Jii(ri Westend, Sv' No 54' vikrampurr' Aoe. 54 Years' Occ. Kh:rkhana Main Road, ...PETITIONERS TheUnionoflndia,MinistryofDefenseRepbyitSecretaryRoomNo.305,B- win\" Sena Bhawan' New Delhi' Thethief Executive omcer' Slcunoerabad -C^antonment Board' Sardar Patel n.Zo]'iit[c\"*-pouna,secunaerabad-5o0o03 ...RES..NDENTS Petition under Arlicle 226 of the Constitution -of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in tnJ''ini';ii\"riLJ inerewitn' lhe Hioh Court may be oteased to issue a writ' oriJ','o'r;il;ti;\"; ;tre particularl/ one in na(ure'of \"i;il\":\"ilX6;i,rris'o.ir,'i\"i inl \"aion of the Respondent No'2 in issuins the final Notice vide Lr.No.SCBiiidri.r.r,il tr.ardings.lbo2ttt23g dated 174-2023 sent /forwarded by Whats 'p'\"io- tn\" ' paitioner about two days back without following due process ot taw I \"I iii\"S'' 'o'a in f \"*' without opportunity and in violation of princ(rles ot \"'t';rl'\"ii;;;\"' ilt hoardings on roof top are existing on private buildings ro' r\"ti'!uJ-tJ -years attd set aside the same as being violative of cardinal principte oi RuAi Aiteram Paterm' and without-any t\"a::'^o: rhyme or basis and *n\"tq'Jntf y itstrain the Respo-ndent No'2 from removrng the advertisement hoardrns ;ilir;;;;; ;Jrop in.Gavatri westend, sv'lt'o's4' Vikrampuri, Kharkhana rt'r'ir*iJ\"o' St'nderabad ' in the lnterest of Justice PetitionUnderSectionl5lCPCprayingthatinthecircUmstancesstated in rhe affidavit fireo in suppJrt';i il; ;Jil, ih\" nign court mav be pleased to restrain the Respondent il; j;il-;ovrng- the . advertisement hoarding structures on roof top i\" c'vXiw\"Iit\"i]sv'Ntlsa' vikrarnpuri ' Karkhana Main IA NO: 1 oF 2023 Road , in the lnterest of Justice lA NO: 2 oF 2.023 Between: AND I::f B:L\"ttffi[:\",\"\"f g,\"\"B.:gffi ge88at\"\"..\"rBoard,sardarpater ....pETtTtONER/RESpONDENT t{o.2 1 I:\"\".,k\"6ji$fl !#ilef ?ff tJii?;\"8,:?81i,.,.#E,T P.Srinivas Reddy, S/o p.Laxr a,iiiiiii!'n4ft\"\"';\"iiv1,['ffi : S;',ilT.: $ff\".,fu ffl l*f, XJf,i Age.52 Colony, 2 rs, Occ. na Main ...RESPONDENT Nos. 1&2MR|T PETITIONERS 3. The Union of lndia Ministry of Defense Rep by it Secretary Room No. 305, B_Wing sena ehiGn,-l,]e;ijeiii, ...RESpONDENT/RESpONDENT No. I Petition under section.151_cpc praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavir fited in supporr or tne peiitio,n, il; n# borrt .ry be pteased ro vacare the tnrerim Order dated 2t.o6.2ort, W.;: f.fl. ,oszz of 2023 in respect of the impusned Norice aated r z.o6.io)a'i. ilro,. the petirioner/ 2nd ffff\".fl ,:,$i,..,\"Tffi Hrifl i*Fg,.\"fr fi x\"..',,l:\";'mi:lL\"*,,\":i,tis Counsel for the petitioner: SRl. SUDHAKAR REDDY REp SRI YANDAPALLY SHARATH BABU counsel for the Respondent No.l: sRl GADI PRAVEEN KUMAR (Dy. soltctToR eerenan oi tr.tola; Counset for the Respondent No.2: SRI K.R. KOTESHWAR RAO, SC The Court made the following: ORDER appearing on counsel for the THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE SUREPALLT NANDA WRIT PETITION 1,6377 0F 2lJ23 ORDER: Heard Mr.Sudhakar Reddy, learned Counsel behatf of Mr.Y.Sharath Babu, l'earned petitioners on record, Mr.Gadi Praveen Kumar, tearned Deputy Solicitor General of India, appearing on behalf of respondent No'1, and Mr.K.R.Koteshwar Rao, learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of respondent No'2 - Cantonment Board. 2. The petitioners approached the Court seeking the prayer as follows: \"To issue a Writ, Order or Direction, more particularly one in nature of Writ of MANDAMUS declaring the action of the Respondent No.2 in issuing the final Notice vide Lr.No.SCB/RS/Rooftop Hoardings/2023/1232 dated L7.6.2023 sent/forwarded by WhatsApp to the Petitioner about two days back without following due process of law, as illegal, bad in {aw, without opportunity and in violation of principles of natural justice as the hoardings on roof top are existing on private buildings for last several years and set aside the same as being violative of cardinal principle of \"Audi Alteram Partem\"' 2 and without any reason or rhyme or basis and consequenuy restrain the Respondent No.2 from removing the advertisement hoarding structures on roor top in Gayatri Westend, Sy.No.54, Vikrampuri, Karkhana Main Road, Secunderabad, in the Interest of lustice.,. 3.7 e rt The 1st petitioner is an Ad agency in the name and style of \"Sri Bhavani Ads,, and had been in the said business for more than two decades. The petitioner is having more than 40 hoardings lke Roof tops, Cantilevers, Unipoles, bus stops lollipops etc., in Hyderabad in various praces rike shamshabad, Manikonda, Narsingi etc. The petitioner No.1 entered into agreement with petitioner No.2 about twenty years back with certain conditions and erected roof top advertisement hoarding structures (02 Nos. ) on roof top of the builcling of 2nd petitioner in Gayatri Westend, Sy.No.54, Vikrampuri, Karkhana Main Road, Secunderabad. The l't petitioner erected the hoarding on roof top of petitioner No.2 and carrying out the business without any hindraflce from any corner by taking utmost care of the hoardings without causing any d istu rba nce/difficu lty to the public for the last several years. It is further the case of the petitioner that the petitioner employed five to six workers to look after the structural stability to maintain cleanliness on the roof oF the building and thus ttre five to six u.ork€rs are eking out ttleir livelihood from the income derived upon it. Respondent No.2 had been collecting the advertisernent hoarding charges/fee from tirne to time and issuing acknowledgment, while so, the petitioners were shocked to see th€ impugned notice dated t7.06.2023 issued by Secunderabad Cantonment Board, through WhatsApp to the petitioner. Hence the present writ petition. ERUSED THE 4. The impugned notice vide Lr.No.SCB/RS/Rooftop Hoardangs/2O23lLz32dated 17.O6.2O23 issued by the 2\"d respondent - Cantonment Board to the petitioners, reads as under: \"It is noted by this office that you are having a rooftop boarding structure on the rooftop of the below mentioned premises. Location of the Hoa rding Structure No. of Hoarding Structures I Gayatri Westend, Sy.No.54, Vikrampuri, Karkhana Main Road Secu ndera bad. 02 Nos. 2. In this con nection, it is to inform that the Boa rd has resolved that all the roofftop hoardings along with its structures be removed in view of public safety' ) st. l No. 4 3. Therefore, you are hereby directed to remove the rooftop. hoarding structure on or before 3oth June, 2023, failing which action will be taken by way of tevying penalty and as per provisions of Cantonments Act, 2006. The owner of the building will be personally liable for any damages caused or loss of life.,, The True Extract of the Ordinary Board Meeting of 5 the Cantonment Conference Hall, Board, Secunderabad Held at the Office of the Cantonment Board, Secunderabad on .Thursday, the 29th day of September, 2022 at 15OO hours, in particular, the retevant paras, read as under: \"[15J To consider imposition of penalty on unauthorized advertisement hoardings, flexis, wall writing, wall posters, unauthorised erection of banners and cut outs and other advertisement elements placed with in the area oi Secunderabad Cantonment with a view to restrict such acts of unauthorized erections, etc., that is not only dangerous to the pedestrians but also eyesore giving shabby look to the public places. The rrnatter was discussed in cletail in the last Board meeting referred above. The Board vide CBR referred above resolvec, to pend the matter for next meeting to address two issues: Authorised space Banners i) for erecting of flexis / 5 ii) Reduction of penalty charges' It is proposed that cut out hoading will be a maximum size of 4'x 6' aM will be put in a rnanner that does not obstruct movement of traffic as well as visibflity of traffic. Further, the banners and cut out hoardings shall be made of environmental friendly material' No banners/cut out hoardings shall be placed to the Poles and Trees. Resolution: The CEO apprised the Board that this matter was placed in last meeting and pended for two assues i.e. i) Authorised space for erection of flexis/Banners ai) Reduction of penalty charges' In this regard, the authorized places have been mentioned on the agenda side and the penalty charges are being proposed at par with GHMC areas' Shri J. Ramakrishna, Nominated Member, after examining the Government of Telangana GO expressed that the mafter in the GHMC has been finalized after detailed discussions and after formation of committees that proposed these regulations. He opined that simitar kind of exercise should be undertaken by the Cantonment Board' Further, he requested to form a committee making CEO and himself as mernbers of the committee for this purpose' The PCB informed that there is no necessity to redo the entire exercise for the Cantonment and recommended to levy the penalty charges/rates at par with GHMC' The PCB further stated that in the earlier Board Meeting' the matter 6 was pended addressed. the Cantonment Conference Hatt, 6 After the detailed discussion, the Board resolved to approve authorised spaces for erection of flexis/Banners on the agenda side and the penalty charges for unauthorized advertasement etements. The CEO is authorised to formulate a procedure for implementing the same from O1.11.2(,22.- The True Extract of the Ordinary Board Meeting of for two reasons and now both have been Board, Secunderabad Held at the Office of the Cantonment Board, Secunderabad on .Wednesday, the lOth day of May,2O23 at 11OO hours, reads as under: \"t131 To consider the note submitted by Revenue Section for \"Regulating advertisement hoardings on roof top of private buildings in respect oF safety & security of the residents,,. As per the said report, this office is collecting Advertisement Fees for Hoardings erected on roof tops pf private buildings. The charges are being collected as per the rates fixed vide CBR No.24, Dt.15.10.2014 as per the rates oF the GHMC and later the same were revised vide CBR No.28, Dt. 19.1O.2020. Further, it is to inform that the roof top hoardings are posing great threat to the nearby residents and commuters during heavy rains. 7 The Municipal Administration and Urban Developnrent (GHMC) Department, Government of Telangana has drafted a new Advertisement Policy vide GO - MS No.68, DL.20.O4.2O20 wherein it has been mentioned that advertisement elements which ar€ at huge heights from the ground level have collapsed a number of times, although certified as stable, thereby creating havoc' Subsequently, the Government has issued operative guidelines for granting permission only for advertisement elements below 15 feet from ground level. The revenue collected through advertisement fee from Hoardings on Roof top buildings for the year 2022-23 is Rs. 1,08,40 ,92O/-. Therefore, keeping in view the safety and securaty of the resadents of the Cantonment, the matter is placed before the Board for decision on removal of rooftop hoardangs on private buildings in Secunderabad Cantonment. The relevant paperc are placed on the table' Resotution: The CEO apprised the Board about regulating advertisement hoardings on rooftop of private buildings in respect of safety of the public' By removing these hoardings, approximately there will be a loss of Rs.l Crore revenue per annum to the Board, however in view of safety of the public the hoardings should be removed. Shri l. Ramakrishna, Nominated Member informed the Boa rd that the rooftop hoardings be considered where a structural safety report is submitted by the owners of the houses, and he said that a comrnittee may be constituted for studying the structural safety. rcB stated that human life is more important than the revenue being generated, hence, the Board may direct the agencies to remove the hoardings in view of the safety of the public. The Board resotved that all the rooftop hoardings along with its structures be removed in view of public safety on or before 3oth June, 2O23, faiting which action to be taken against the violators as per the Board resolution vide eBR No. 15, dt.2g.Og.2(l22 and as per provisions of Cantonments Act, 2OO6.,, 7. A bare perusal of the G.O.Ms.No.68 date