The Bombay High Court on Monday asked all civic bodies across Maharashtra to submit detailed data on FIRs registered against illegal hoardings, banners and posters on public roads, along with information on fines imposed and recovered.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh Patil said the court wants clarity on what municipal corporations and district councils have done so far to enforce penalties for such violations. The court was hearing a group of petitions alleging large-scale defacement of public property through unauthorized hoardings and banners.
The bench noted that despite repeated directions over the years, illegal hoardings remain a persistent issue. Earlier, the court had required all political parties to file undertakings stating that their functionaries would not put up unauthorized banners or posters. Parties including the BJP, Congress, Shiv Sena, NCP and MNS had submitted such undertakings.
On Monday, the judges remarked that fines for illegal hoardings should be recovered directly from the individual authorised by the political party concerned. They also asked whether each civic body should have a dedicated department to address the issue.
The court asked: “Can we have data on which corporation has registered how many FIRs, what action has been taken and also the fine amount recovered? What action have corporations taken to recover fines? What is the action plan for that?”
The bench commended the Latur Municipal Corporation for putting in place an effective mechanism to curb illegal hoardings. It noted that Latur had set up a WhatsApp group connecting public-spirited citizens with civic and police officials to enable quick action. The civic body also held regular meetings with local printers and made QR codes mandatory on all hoardings to verify whether necessary permissions had been obtained.
“This can be incorporated by other civic bodies too,” the court said.
However, the bench expressed displeasure with the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) for failing to file its affidavit on action taken, including FIRs registered and steps initiated against violators. Granting TMC a final opportunity, the court warned that if the affidavit was not filed by next week, it would be compelled to summon the civic commissioner.
The matter will be heard next on November 26.
