JUDGMENT :

Lok Pal Singh, J.

1. Petitioners have invoked extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking quashing of concession agreement dated 06.05.2017/20.09.2017, executed by respondent no. 1, in favour of respondent no. 2, thereby granting the right to construct, operate, utilize and maintain 34 Traffic Booths and 20 Traffic Umbrellas for the purpose of promotion and advertisement of their and/or their client displays. A further writ has been sought directing the respondent no. 1 not to allow the display of any advertisement upon Traffic Booth and Traffic Umbrella in pursuance to the concession agreement dated 06.05.2017/20.09.2017 executed by respondent no. 1 in favour of respondent no. 2 and the respondent no. 2 should also be prohibited from displaying any advertisement in pursuance to the concession agreement dated 06.05.2017/20.09.2017 executed by respondent no. 1 in favour of respondent no. 2.

2. Brief facts, necessary for adjudicating the controversy in hand, are that petitioner no. 2 is engaged in the advertising business and is carrying on the advertising business under the name and style 'Catalyst Advertising Media' and is the sole proprietor of petitioner no. 1 company. From time to time, the petitioners have been participating in the advertisement tenders invited by respondent no. 1 and at present the petitioners have contract of 15434 pole kiosks and its contract value is Rs. 1,15,31,000/-. The said advertisement contract was granted by respondent no. 1 to the petitioners and the same is valid for the period from 01.02.2018 to 31.01.2020. The control over the advertisements within the area of Nagar Nigam and grant of permission/license is solely within the jurisdiction of Nagar Nigam. As per Section 305 of Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 (as applicable in State of Uttarakhand) [hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'], no person is entitled to erect, fix or retain any sky-sign of any kind without the permission of Municipal Commissioner which can be granted by the Municipal commissioner maximum for a period not exceeding two years' from the date of such permission. As per Section 306 of said Act, the regulation and control of advertisements is also within the jurisdiction of Nagar Nigam and the Municipal Commissioner is authorized to take down or remove unauthorized hoardings and also to realize the expenses in case of unauthorized hoardings or advertisements.

3. The Nagar Nigam, Dehradun, exercising the powers under Section 541(48) of said Act has also framed byelaws in the year 2010, which are known as Nagar Nigam Byelaws, 2010. The areas where the hoardings/advertisements can be permitted are described in the said byelaws. It is specifically provided in clause 7 of the byelaws that within an area of 25 meters, no hoarding/unipoles would be fixed in Chowk (intersection) and crossing. Clause nos. 9 and 10 provide that only those agencies would be registered for advertising permission for taking part in the bid, whose proprietor is permanent resident of Uttarakhand and the companies which are registered outside have to take a local person in the management. Clause no. 19 speaks about prohibition for putting advertisement in trisection (tiraha) upto an extent of 25 meters.

4. The State of Uttarakhand exercising the powers under Section 540 of the Act has also framed Rules known as Uttarakhand Nagar Nigam (Advertising Permission and Assessment and Collection of Taxes of Advertising) Rules, 2015. In addition to the Uttarakhand Procurement Rules, 2008 and the Nagar Nigam Byelaws, 2010, the Uttarakhand Nagar Nigam (Advertising Permission and Assessment and Collection of Taxes on Advertising) Rules, 2015 are also binding upon respondent no. 1 while granting the advertisement rights/contracts.

5. Relevant Rules of Uttarakhand Nagar Nigam (Advertising Permission and Assessment and collection of Taxes on Advertising) Rules, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as 2015 Rule