PATIALA: The court of
civil judge Patiala
on Thursday issued
contempt notice
to the senior officials of the
Patiala Municipal Corporation
(PMC) for removing
movie posters
from the premises of the Phull Cinema on Wednesday and then again on Thursday morning.
The notice was issued following a petition moved by the owners of the cinema, who alleged that despite an injunction passed by the civil court on August 21, last year, restraining the Patiala civic body from initiating any action against the unipole installed on the premises of the cinema, the officials of the corporation tore down the movie posters from a unipole installed inside the premises of the theatre and later sent a WhatsApp message warning them to take down the unipole or face further action.
Anil Jain, counsel for cinema owner, Raghav Gupta, said the injunction passed by the civil court Patiala was still in force and the civic authorities were well aware of this fact. He said without serving any notice, the PMC officials initiated the action which was against the orders passed by the court. He contended that unipole and outdoor advertisement dotted the entire city and despite these banners hanging at two unapproved sites just outside the cinema, the action was only initiated against the cinema owners.
The contempt petition was filed against Gurpreet Singh Khaira, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Dr Ankur Mahindru, Joint Commissioner, and Ravdeep Singh, Superintendent, LAND (Advertisement) Branch on which the court issued the notice to these officials and fixed February 7 as the next date of hearing.
Jain contended that the PMC officials disobeyed the orders that had been confirmed September 26, 2018, in the presence of the PMC officials. He said as the PMC itself had moved the court against the September 26 orders and the matter is still pending in the court, the action taken by the officials was in contempt of the court.
He said that during the action, the PMC staff even damaged some tubes and bulbs of the cinema following which Raghav Gupta filed a police complaint against the officials of the corporation with the Patiala Inspector General of Police seeking police action against them.
Meanwhile, commissioner of the Patiala Municipal Corporation GS Khaira when contacted said the action had been taken by the joint commissioner Ankur Mahindru in accordance with the law. He said the unipole installed by the cinema was in contravention with the existing norms of outdoor advertising and they will lay bare the facts before the court.
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