Supreme Court seeks details of revenue generated from billboards in Karachi

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) directed on Tuesday the federal, provincial and local agencies to submit details, including generation and utilisation, of the revenue generated from outdoor advertisement billboards and hoardings during the past five years in Karachi.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, passed this direction while hearing a case against the mushrooming of illegal and unauthorised billboards and hoardings installed on public and private properties in the city.

The bench, which also comprised justices Qazi Faiz Isa and Faisal Arab, was hearing the matter at the SC’s Karachi Registry.

At the outset, the federal and provincial law officers filed reports in compliance with the court’s order passed last week to remove banners and other advertisement material from the electric poles. The court was also informed that the structures of such billboards had also been removed.

Justice Hani observed that giant hoardings had been installed on the buildings while the same were also erected on footpaths, leaving no space for the public to even walk.

The bench inquired from the federal law officer about the money that the army, cantonment boards, Karachi Port Trust and other civic agencies had made from the billboards and hoardings in the last five years.

Meanwhile, a report filed by the lawyer representing the Cantonment Board Faisal stated that all the illegal banners had been removed from the electric poles in its limits in compliance with the court order.

It was stated in the report that some armed forces’ departments had installed billboards in violation of the law and letters were addressed to them to remove the same.

The bench directed the law officers to submit five-year details of the revenue generated from the billboards and hoardings by the civic agencies and departments of the federal and provincial governments. The judges said an order to introduce legislation regarding hoardings and billboards will also be passed later.

Case history

In its May 5 order last year, the SC had, after defining in detail what qualifies as ‘public’ space, observed that “There is no law which permits [Karachi Metropolitan Corporation] KMC, [district municipal corporations] DMCs, cantonment boards or any other agency in Karachi to install billboards or hoardings on a public property.” Such an act on the part of the permission-granting agency is against the civil rights of the citizens, it had observed further.

The SC had also directed the additional attorney-general and provincial advocate-general to conduct meetings with all the civic agencies that grant permission for installing such outdoor advertisements to finalise the amendments to the proposed bylaws applicable beyond ‘public properties’ to achieve city-wide uniformity and ensure safety measures for citizens

Source: The Express Tribune