Court pulls up official on outdooor ad issue

The Karnataka High Court has come down heavily on the Housing and Urban Development Department in Bangalore for the arbitrary manner in which it passed an order favouring a particular company for outdoor advertising and directed the Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department to file an affidavit.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had given the rights to build gantries on 49 roads to one company in Bangalore. One side of the structure was set to be used for road signs while advertisements could be put up on the other. While this company was told to go ahead with the building process they realised that the same roads were also given to another advertising firm. The company also stated that there was no call for a tender before the project was given to the other company.

The decision to issue advertisement rights was taken by a Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department.

Justice Rammohan Reddy who presided over the case directed the official behind the mess to file an affidavit on how he could have granted the advertisement rights. The petition to the court was filed by the Outdoor Advertising Association.