TMI Blog2005 (8) TMI 666X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ity of Bombay for the convenience of its depositors. Certain signboards were fixed above the entry of the ATM centers and extension counters indicating their location. They are illuminated to indicate the locations of the ATM centers. The Municipal Corporation did not approve of putting up of the illuminated signboards of ATM centers and therefore issued notice to the appellant under Section 328 and 328-A of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act 1888 (hereinafter to be referred to as `The Act'). The contents of the notice are that the appellant has displayed at its premises sky sign/Glow Sign/Neon Sign/Illuminated Boards without the permission of the Bombay Municipal Corporation. It was incumbent upon the appellant before putting up such signboards etc., to have taken the permission and made the required payment. The notice required the appellant to make certain payment towards by filling the prescribed form within three days of the receipt of the notice, failing which BMC would take necessary action, including defacing/removal of the boards at appellant's cost. The notice was replied by the appellant contending therein that the appellant does not admit any of the allegation ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... night and is in the nature of the in-house facility provided to the customers of the bank and does not in any way convey message of commercial or business activities of the appellant bank. The illuminated signboard does not relate to the business or commercial activities of the bank nor does it propagate the ideas with regard to the goods or services rendered by the party. It merely displays as to where the ATM Center is located and therefore the action of the bank putting up the illuminated signboards does not fall within the ambit of Section 328A of the Act. To counter this argument, Mr. V.R. Reddy, learned senior counsel submitted that in the facts of the case, the decision given by this Court in the case of Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay (supra) is directly on point and the ratio decided covers the case. In any case, the illuminated signboards at the entry of the ATM Center and Extension Counter does not indicate their locations alone but attract the prospective customers also to open their accounts with the ICICI Bank and in that manner it propagates ideas with regard to the goods or the services rendered by Bank and therefore would be covered under Section 328A of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the wall or parapet of any building, or on the cornice or blocking course of any wall, or to the ridge of a roof. 328A. (1) No person shall, without the written permission of the Commissioner erect, exhibit, fix or retain any advertisement whether now existing or not, upon any land, building, wall, hoarding or structure. [Where an advertisement depicts any scene from a cinematographic film, stage play or other stage performance, such permission shall not be granted, unless prior scrutiny of such advertisement is made by the Commissioner and he is satisfied that the erection or exhibition of such advertisement is not likely to offend against decency or morality;] . . (3) If any advertisement be erected, exhibited, fixed or retained contrary to the provisions of this section after the written permission for the erection, exhibition, fixing or retention thereof for any period shall have expired or become void, the Commissioner may, by notice in writing, require the owner or occupier of the land, building wall, hoarding or structure upon which the same is erected, exhibited, fixed or retained, to take down or remove such advertisement By virtue of Section 328 of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that it should be in the nature of advertisement, announcement or direction, and should be visible against sky from some point in any street. So far as Section 328A is concerned, no person is permitted to erect, exhibit, fix or retain any advertisement upon any land, building, wall, hoarding or structure without the written permission of the Commissioner. Second proviso to sub-s.(1) exempts the person from taking permission if the advertisement is not illuminated or a sky-sign and which is exhibited within the window of any building or is related to the trade or business carried on within the land or building upon which such advertisement is exhibited or to any sale or letting of such land or building or any effects therein or to any sale, entertainment or meeting to be held upon or in the same building or to any trade or business carried on by the owner of any tram-car, omnibus or other vehicle upon which such advertisement is exhibited. Therefore, if the advertisement is not illuminated advertisement nor is a sky-sign and is being put at a place provided under clauses (a) and (b) of Section 328A of the Act, permission of the Commissioner is not required. The moment the advertise ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... raph makes it clear that the Court has considered the scope and reach of Section 328 of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act 1888. That apart, in Paragraph 10 of the Judgment the Court held that the indication given by emphasis supplied to some of the words used in the provision in question as well as the words in the nature of an advertisement, announcement or direction' would go to show that it is not a must to be that but is enough if it is `in the nature of' that which is specified. The three words required to be construed cannot be said to admit of any one particular meaning alone but capable of being understood by their general or interrelated meaning suitable for the context . Thus, much emphasis was placed on the expression in the nature of. The Court in Paragraph 9 of course has said that in common parlance `advertisement' means to make publicly known an information by some device and to draw or attract attention of public/individual concerned to such information. It need not necessarily be to sell only or solely for commercial exploitation. Thus, it was pointed out that the advertisement would not necessarily mean the information supplied to the public or ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... judgment. In the matter of C.I.T. Vs. Sun Engineering works (P) Ltd, (1992) 4 S.C.C. 363 (Page 363), Justice Anand (As His Lordship then was), speaking for the Court, has said that it is neither desirable nor permissible to pick out a word or a sentence from the Judgment of the Court, divorced from the context of the question under consideration and treat it to be the complete `law' declared by the Supreme Court. The judgment must be read as a whole and the observations from the judgment have to be considered in the light of the questions which were before the Supreme Court. The decision on the question involved in the case in which it is rendered and while applying the decision to the later case, the Courts must carefully try to ascertain the true principle laid down by the decision and not to pick out words or sentence from the judgment divorced from the context of the question under consideration by the Court. In the case of Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay (supra), Section 328A was not at all interpreted by this Court. For the case to be a binding precedent, fundamental requirement would be, that the law pronounced should result from the issues raised before t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion communicated to the public, or to an individual concerned, as by handbills, newspaper, television, bill-boards, radio. First Nat. Corporation v. Perrine, 99 Mont 454, 43 P.2d 1073, 1077. THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANICA VOLUME-I Advertising, the techniques used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public notice for the purpose of persuading the public to respond in a certain way toward what is advertised. Most advertising involves promoting a good that is for sale, but similar methods are used to encourage people to drive safely, to support various charities, or to vote for political candidates, among many other examples. COLLINS DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Advertisement any public notice, as a printed display in a newspaper, short film on television, announcement on radio, etc., designed to sell goods, publicize an event, etc. Advertising 1) the action or practice of drawing public attention to goods, services, events etc., as by the distribution of printed notices, broadcasting, etc. 2) the business that specializes in creating such publicity, 3) advertisements collectively; publicity. THE CHAMBERS DICTIONARY Advertisement - the act of adver ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the words of JUSTICE HOLMES : A word is not a crystal transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in colour and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used. Shorn of the context, the words by themselves are slippery customers . Therefore, in determining the meaning of any word or phrase in a statute the first question to be asked is What is the natural or ordinary meaning of that word or phrase in its context in the statute? It is only when that meaning leads to some result which cannot reasonably be supposed to have been the intention of the Legislature, that it is proper to look for some possible meaning of the word or phrase . Section 328A prohibits without prior permission of Commissioner, erection, exhibition of advertisement. The advertiser need not ask for permission if the advertisement is not illuminated or is not a sky sign, provided it is exhibited in window of any building, or relates to trade or business carried on within that land or building or when it relates to sale or letting of that property or in reference to any sale, entertainment or meeting organized therein, or it relates to busines ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... formation supplied of the location of the service provided may also be construed of commercial exploitation indirectly, as the sign boards may not aim at the existing customers only but they may also affect the decisions of the prospective customers. They tell the prospective customers that the service of the ATM round the clock is being made available by the appellant bank which would influence the prospective customers to make a decision about which service provider he or she has to choose. The sign board also helps the people to find out which bank is offering better services as compared to the other bank. The fact that a Bank has more ATM centers than the other banks, in the competitive trade and business, provides the incentive to the people to choose that Bank. The fact that one bank has an ATM center in the given location helps them to get more account holders in that area. This also serves the commercial interest of the bank. Whether particular action is an advertisement or not would depend on whether the person wants to promote directly or indirectly his product or service. If by any communication, the communicator tries to influence the people to buy his product or servic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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