NMC defends hoarding policy with court approval

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) defended its policy on advertising hoardings on footpaths in court on Thursday. They claimed this policy is based on a framework approved by the court in 2001. NMC filed an affidavit to support its position, responding to a legal challenge from the Citizen Forum for Equality, which argues that these hoardings are illegal. A division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi heard the case but postponed further discussions for one week. The petitioner’s lawyer, Tushar Mandlekar, requested extra time to review NMC's affidavit. NMC's additional municipal commissioner, Ajay Charthankar, stated that they follow a legitimate process for outdoor advertising. He pointed out a prior court case that led to a survey of hoardings that did not follow local laws. After this, NMC developed an Outdoor Advertisement Policy in collaboration with a Mumbai firm, which the court approved in 2001. Under this policy, hoardings are allowed as long as they are at least 15 feet high and do not block pedestrians. NMC acknowledged that new rules from 2022 generally restrict hoardings on footpaths. However, they argued that an old court decision allows for exceptions to this rule, making the 2001 policy still valid. They also mentioned a recent decision to create a committee to check if footpath hoardings block movement. This committee confirmed that proposed locations meet safety guidelines, leading to the approval of the tender process on March 15, 2024.