Sindh High Court Bans Billboards on Public Properties

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has instructed the federal and provincial governments to remove the billboards and advertisement hoardings and to make sure they are not put up on public properties of the cantonment boards and civil areas again. 

The directives were given in a ruling in response to a petition against the tax on billboard advertisements by cantonment boards.

The SHC division bench comprised Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan. The bench declared the billboards across public properties in ‘serious contempt’ of the Supreme Court (SC)’s order. 

After listening to the arguments of both sides, SHC ordered the SC’s decision of banning billboards and hoardings to be held up by the public functionaries. The bench directed the federal and provincial governments as well as the land-owning agencies to ensure that the SC’s verdict is upheld, in letter and spirit.

The bench also directed the federal and provincial governments, as well as the cantonment boards, to submit statements concerning the outcome of the discussions and meetings with stakeholders about the procedure for granting permissions to put up billboards on non-public properties, as dictated by the SC.