Division Bench of J&K High Court Comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sindhu Sharma issued notices to Jammu Municipal Corporation, Jammu Development Authority and others in a Public interest Litigation filed by two practicing advocates Aditya Sharma and Ravi Sharma.
Advocate Aditya Sharma Appeared in person and submitted that in Jammu there are illegal hoardings/ advertisements everywhere which are in clear violation of the advertisement policy of the JMC and even in terms of directions passed by the Apex Court. Petitioner further submitted that FLEX (used for advertisement)is the main cause of pollution as the Flex which is used for advertisement purpose is not reusable and hence is causing hazardous pollution to our environment.
Petitioners also laid emphasis that the Jammu municipal corporation on one hand is working on beautification of Jammu city but on the other hand is acting as revenue generating agency and had made Jammu city as city of advertisement .Even new tender has also been issued in this regard and had left no stone unturned to install hoardings everywhere in Jammu City. It is pertinent to mention here that as per the advertisement policy of JMC there are certain places where the advertisements/Hoardings are strictly restricted like Educational institutions , parks, religious places, heritage areas, etc but this policy has been openly violated by the Jammu Municipal Corporation itself.
Notice on behalf of Jammu Municipal Corporation was accepted by Advocate Rajnish Raina.
Division Bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sindhu Sharma issued notices to other respondents to file reply in this petition