In today’s hearing, advocate Mohini Priya appearing for the petitioners submitted that Mumbai was a cosmopolitan city and people knew multiple languages.
She added that the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Rules is meant for service conditions, and that the current rule in question has been made applicable even to shops with less than 10 workmen.
Justice Nagarathna then remarked,
“You can express in Hindi, English then Marathi also. It is one of the eighth schedule languages. What is the difficulty in putting a new board? It is so ugly, all colours, all boards having different sizes. Some very tall some too wide. One board is huge, one has twelve colours one has two. Advocates only have black and white, but others.”
Justice Bhuyan then asked how shopkeepers’ business was affected by the rule. Advocate Priya said that a paucity of signboards have meant their prices have skyrocketed.
The bench was initially inclined to transfer the plea regarding the vires of the Rules that enabled the State government move, to the Bombay High Court.
The bench, however, eventually gave the petitioners three weeks time to file their rejoinder to the State’s government’s affidavit supporting the compulsory Marathi signboard rule.
Source: Barandbench
