The Patna High Court rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed to restrain the construction/installation of a mobile tower within a densely populated area and also near a school.
The petitioner alleged that the 9th Respondent (Private Limited) is constructing a mobile tower against which a representation has been given to the District Magistrate, and the Circle Officer.
It is also submitted that there is violation of Section 4 of the Bihar Communication Towers and Related Structures Rule, 2012 . The proposed location of the tower is said to be the land of the Private Respondent.
The petitioner asserted that the installation of the tower in the proposed site is in contravention of Section 4 of the 2012 Rules, especially when a school and a temple are situated within hundred metres of the aforesaid land. But, for the violation alleged, there is nothing otherwise stated against the installation.
The 2012 Rules by Section 4 prohibits installation of a tower within a radius of hundred metres from a school, college or a hospital. The authority under the 2012 Rules is the Municipality to whom an application has to be made under Rule 5 and an approval of the Municipality is also appealable before the Principal Secretary, Urban Development & Housing Department within 30 days of the order.
“The petitioner ought to have obtained the order of the Municipality and taken it up in appeal if he is aggrieved by the tower installation, in violation of the Rules. The representation filed before the District Magistrate and the Circle Officer cannot evoke any response since the authority constituted under the 2012 Rules is quite different. The Municipality which has to grant approval under the 2012 Rules also has not been impleaded”, the Division Bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy noted.
The Bench rejected the PIL but, however, leaving liberty to the petitioner to avail of the remedies available under the 2012 Rules.