Kerala HC directs imposing of fine on unauthorised boards, banners in public spaces

The Kerala High Court has directed that special drives be conducted by joint secretaries of the Local Self-Government (LSG) department to remove unauthorised boards, banners and flags from public spaces, and to impose fine on those who installed them.

On their part, the secretaries of local bodies too must clear such materials from public spaces. The special drives must be concluded in a fortnight, following which the Principal Secretary of the LSG department must submit a report on this to the court. Officials who do not adhere to the order would have to appear online before the court and submit their explanation, said a Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran on Friday.

The amicus curie who had been appointed in this regard submitted before the court that unauthorised boards, flags etc. have begun to reappear at many places in Kerala, including in Ernakulam district. To this, the court observed that secretaries of these local bodies who failed to impose fines on the violatiors, should quit their post. The rule violators include the ruling fronts in the Centre and the State, who cite the excuse that the boards and similar materials were placed by migrant workers, said the court and reminded that the police too ought to play their part in ending the menace posed by such unauthorised materials.