KARACHI, Oct 3: The Sindh High Court has directed the cantonment boards to suspend their campaign for the removal of rooftop hoardings till Oct 17, when a petition moved by the aggrieved advertisers would again come up for hearing.

The Outdoor Advertising Association complained that many hoardings mounted at roadsides or intersections collapsed in the June 23 storm causing several casualties. However, the cantonment boards, instead of taking action against ground-mounted hoardings, decided to pull down those installed on rooftops.

The petitioner submitted through advocates Raza Hashmi and Hassaan Sabir that its members acquired rooftops on a payment of hefty annual rent and did not buy sites in auction from the cantonment board authorities. No rooftop hoarding fell during the storm but the authorities, while granting fresh permits for ground-mounted hoardings, were dismantling their billboards.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab asked the counsel appearing for the cantonment boards station headquarters whether they had any regulations on outdoor advertising.

Except for the Faisal Cantonment Board, it transpired, no board had any rules or bylaws to regulate the installation of hoardings. One of the lawyers claimed that the bylaws were formulated and presented as a draft. The bench asked him to submit a notification that could be relied upon by the court.

The other counsel submitted a statement saying that the cantonment boards would not be responsible if any hoarding collapsed pending the proceedings.

The bench reprimanded the counsel for trying to exert undue pressure and adjourned the hearing to Oct 17. In the meantime, no rooftop billboard shall be dismantled.

Faryal’s plea