NEW DELHI, May 13:
In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court today said no photos of politicians except for Prime Minister, President and the Chief Justice of India should appear in Government advertisements in the print and electronic media.
A Division Bench, headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, noted in the judgement in its landmark judgment, however, permitted the use of photographs of the Prime minister, President, Chief Justice of India (CJI) and departed leaders, including Father of the Nation, in various advertisements in print and electronic issued by the Government and its agencies.
The court also made it clear that the use of photographs of an individual, leader or minister not only has a tendency to associate an individual with a project, but leads to a personality cult. “Photos have the potential of developing personality cult,” the apex court said referring to the practice of several political leaders including Chief Ministers to garner political mileage by putting their pictures in advertisements for various Government projects.
The ruling also prohibits State Chief Ministers and Governors being featured in Government advertisements. The court constituted a three-member committee to ensure that the new guidelines were not violated.
“Advertisement materials should be objective and not directed at promoting political interests of ruling party,” the bench said. The court passed the order after hearing petitions filed by NGOs, including one by senior Supreme Court lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, seeking rules to protect taxpayer’s hard earned money from being unnecessarily spent on various Government advertisements across media for gaining political mileage. (UNI)
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