Giving the civic body eight weeks’ time, the division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice J P Devadhar has directed the municipal commissioner to appoint a high-level committee under his own chairmanship, conduct a survey of areas which have heritage buildings or experience heavy traffic and inform the court how many hoardings violate the guidelines.

The court also issued notices to MCGM and Reliance Energy which supply power to the city, to furnish details of how much power is supplied to light up hoardings, and at what rate.

The court was miffed with the MCGM for allowing a hoarding put up by city-based Madhavi Advertising off the sea-coast at Worli, south Mumbai.

“We want to know under what law the MCGM has power to control sea water,” Chief Justice Kumar asked the civic body lawyer on learning that this hoarding was put up in 1974, with due permissions from the corporation.

There are hosts of PILs, including the one filed by city-based doctor Anahita Pundole who had opposed the ever-mushrooming hoardings which dominate the skyline of the city, and even its shoreline.

Petitioners’ lawyer Iqbal Chhagla earlier informed the court that the MCGM issued a new set of guidelines on January 10. He pointed out that the fresh guidelines, as well as the older ones, barred hoardings in the coastal area, or close to the roads, on the traffic islands, or on the grounds reserved as open space.

But more often than not the guidelines breached, Chhagla said, despite several court orders.

In the course of the hearing, the Chief Justice, also asked the MCGM lawyer how the mobile-advertising vans were allowed to be parked on busy roads for hours together.

“As a citizen I know they (hoardings) are injurious to the eye, to the traffic and obstruct the view of beautiful buildings,” Chief justice Kumar said adding, “We can’t inject sensitivity into corporation’s officers. We can send them to jail, and we will if they are found to have violated law.”