KARACHI, Feb 3: The Sindh High Court restrained the city district government from removing billboards and hoardings put up by outdoor advertisers across the city.

The Outdoor Advertisers Association maintained that the boards were installed under valid agreements on payment of tenancy charges and the publicity cess. The structural drawings were approved by the city district government. The government had announced removal of unlawfully erected billboard but about 600 of them installed under the rules had already been dismantled.

The petitioner association’s counsel, Raza Hashmi, argued that about 40 of its members would suffer irreparable loss if the boards were allowed to be removed by the city district government. They had spent huge sums on their installation after receiving charges from their clients.

A division bench, comprising Justices Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery and Maqbool Baqar, issued notices to the CDGK and other respondents for Feb 17 and stayed further dismantling.