SME Times News Bureau | 13 May, 2010
The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed the sealing of illegal mobile towers in Delhi and asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Cellular Operators Association to resolve the issue amicably.
Justice Kailash Gambhir stayed the sealing till May 19 and issued a notice to MCD.
Directing the MCD and the association to resolve their differences, the court said: "It is a pubic interest matter and should be resolved immediately."
Seeking a stay on the sealing, the association approached the court through its member C.S. Dua.
In the petition, the operators alleged that sealing by the MCD was illegal as the powers flowing from the Indian Telegraph Act vested with the central government and not any civic authority.
The MCD Wednesday sealed 24 illegal mobile towers in the capital. There are 5,364 phone towers in MCD's jurisdiction. Of these, as many as 2,952 have been declared illegal for coming up without MCD's authorization.
The MCD has already sealed about 300 towers in the past few months. But 41 were made operational after the phone companies completed the formalities.
According to the MCD, mobile operators who have erected towers illegally were given one month's time to get them regularised. The deadline expired last week.
