V/s v. The State of Maharashtra & Ors.
Case at a glance
Outcome
Disposed of
2024 is quashed and set aside and the Writ Petition is disposed of with the
Provisions considered
- Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 s. 456A(1)
Key paragraphs
- Para 99. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of.
Judgment
Cause title
Mr. Mohammed Zain Khan with Ashraf Kapoor i/b. One Legal for the Petitioner
Mr. O.A. Chandurkar, Addl.G.P. with
Ms. G.R. Raghuwanshi, AGP for Respondent No.1 - State Ms. Madhavi Tavanandi for Respondent No.2 – PMPML Mr. Abhijit P. Kulkarni with Gourav Shahane, Sweta Shah, Abhishek Roy, Shreyas Zarkar for Respondent No.3 – PMC Mr. Kedar B. Dighe for Respondent No.4 - PCMC in WP 4806/2024 and for Respondent – PCMC in Cont. Petn. No. 522/2024 _______________________________________
CORAM : ALOK ARADHE, CJ. AND M.S. KARNIK, J. DATE : 25th MARCH 2025
ORDER (Per Chief Justice) :
Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With consent of the learned Counsel for the parties, the Writ Petition is heard finally. JPP 16. WP 4806.24.doc
In this Writ Petition, the Petitioner, who is the proprietor of the advertising agency, seeks to quash and set aside the letter dated 1 st February 2024 issued by Respondent No.2 - Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd. (PMPML) a public limited not governmental company and to direct the Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 to grant No Objection Certificate to the Petitioner to display the advertisements for a period of five years under the agreement dated 1st August 2022.
Facts giving rise to filing of the Petition in a nut shell are that on 13th January 2022, PMPML issued E-Tender Notice inviting bids for advertisement rights on hoardings, LED Backlit Box at BRTS Bus Shelters, advertisement boards on BTS Corridors, advertisement outside BRT Bus Shelters and illuminated Kiosks at Depots and Stands at Pune Metropolitan Area for a period of five years. The Petitioner participated and on 20 th April 2022 was declared a successful bidder. Thereupon, a letter of Award was issued to him. Thereafter, on 1st August 2022, an agreement was executed between the Petitioner and PMPML, by which advertisement rights were granted to the Petitioner for a period of five years.
No Objection Certificate is required to be obtained under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations (Regulation and Control of the Display of Sky-signs and Advertisement) (MMC) Rules, 2022, which are made in JPP 16. WP 4806.24.doc exercise of the powers under Section 244 and 245 read with sub-section 456A(1) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949. Under Rule 25 of the MMC Rules, 2022, the Applicant is required to make an application to the Municipal Corporation seeking NOC to display the advertisement. The Petitioner submitted applications to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as well as Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). However, the aforesaid applications, by a letter dated 1st February 2024, were rejected without assigning any reason.
Hence, this Petition. At the outset, the learned Counsel representing PMC and PCMC submitted that in case the Petitioner submits an application in consonance with the Rules along with requisite documents, the Competent Authority of the Municipal Corporation shall pass an order on the aforesaid application within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of such an application.
The learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the Petitioner shall submit an application within a period of one week with all the requisite documents under the MMC Rules of 2022.
Operative part
In view of the aforesaid submissions and in the facts and circumstances of the case, the impugned communication dated 1st February JPP 16. WP 4806.24.doc 2024 is quashed and set aside and the Writ Petition is disposed of with the following directions :-
(i) The Petitioner shall make applications under Rule 25 of the MMC Rules, 2022 within a period of ten days from today seeking NOC to the PMC as well as PCMC.
(ii) The Competent Authority of the PMC as well as PCMC shall decide the applications by a speaking order within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of such an applications.
Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of.
In view of order passed today in Writ Petition No. 4806 of 2024, no further order is required to be passed in the Contempt Petition No. 522 of
2024. The same is accordingly disposed of. ( M.S. KARNIK, J. ) ( CHIEF JUSTICE )
Questions this judgment answers
What did the Court decide in this case?
The Court recorded the following disposition: 2024 is quashed and set aside and the Writ Petition is disposed of with the
Which statutory provisions did this judgment involve?
Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 — s. 456A(1).
Which court decided this case, and when?
Bombay High Court, on 25 Mar 2025. The bench was M S KARNIK.
Precedent status how later indexed judgments have treated this case
No known negative treatment found in the Courts & Cases corpus.
This is a result about the indexed corpus, not a finding that the judgment remains good law. Coverage may be incomplete.