Flex row: BBMP official files plaint against DK Shivakumar
The HC in August had pulled up the BBMP for its approach in making city flex and banner free.
Bengaluru: The Byatrayanapura police have registered a case against Karnataka Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar after a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) official lodged a complaint against the minister for refusing to take down an advertisement banner.
The banner, according to the complainant Muthuraj, an Assistant Revenue Officer of RR Nagar Zone of BBMP, was in violation of the recent High Court ruling.
The case has been registered under Section 3 (Penalty for unauthorised disfigurement by advertisement) and 5 (punishment for abettors) of Karnataka Open Place Disfigurement Act 1951 and 1981, under Sections 233 and 285 (prohibition against obstruction to streets) of Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act 1976 as well as Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.
Mr Muthuraj said that four notices were served to Mr Shivakumar on August 13, 15, 30 and September 1, but the minister did not respond or act on the notices. The complaint further read that the banner was installed by the minister on a land in Pantarapalya off Mysore Road.
The HC in August had pulled up the BBMP for its approach in making city flex and banner free. Following this, the BBMP has conducted special drives to remove flexes and hoardings in its limits and also booked those who had erected them. The civic body also passed its long-awaited ‘Outdoor Signage and Public Messaging’ bylaw that’s been in the works since 2015, and put an official ban on all forms of outdoor advertisements in the city for a year.