Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Wednesday slammed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for allowing encroachment by hoardings on footpaths in the city. The court directed the civic body that the use of public spaces for commercial purposes be halted.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Vrushali Joshi ordered the NMC to ensure that no hoardings be erected on footpaths across the city. It may be mentioned that NMC had issued a tender for the placement of these hoardings, recently, which was challenged by the petitioners in the case.
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Thursday 16 Jan. 2025
During the hearing on Wednesday, the Division Bench expressed concern and ordered NMC to submit an explanation within a week regarding the issue. The petitioners’ counsel emphasised that installing hoardings on footpaths not only obstructed public access but also violated citizens’ right to use such spaces. The case is based on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Madhukar Kukde, President of the Citizen Forum for Equality, who argued that the footpaths in Nagpur were being commercialized with hoardings and other encroachments, impeding the free movement of pedestrians.
The Citizen Forum’s complaint further alleged that the NMC had failed to act on a representation made in August 2024 to remove these encroachments. The counsel referred to the judgment of Justice J M Patel in 2000, during which GP Bhushan Gavai — now a Judge of the Supreme Court of India — had argued in the case and stated that no hoardings should be erected on the footpath, as it would occupy public space meant for pedestrians.
In 2022, the State introduced a new Advertising Policy under Section 37 of the MRTP Act. The policy explicitly stated that footpaths should not be used for hoardings. Despite this, the NMC proceeded with issuing the tenders. In previous hearings, the High Court had questioned the Deputy Commissioner of Police ( Traffic), Archit Chandak, regarding the legal measures that could be taken against those obstructing footpaths. The NMC responded with a detailed affidavit, stating that action was being taken against such encroachments, including imposing fines of up to Rs 2,000.
In the current case, the High Court also directed the NMC to involve the Smart City Project in the proceedings and requested further clarification on the steps being taken to address the encroachment issue.
Adv Tushar Mandlekar represented the Citizen Forum, Adv Girish Kunte represented NIT, AGP Nitin Rao represented the State, and Adv Sudhir Puranik represented the NMC.
