SC issues guidelines to regulating Government Advertisements

Supreme Court (SC) on 13 May 2015 issued a slew of guidelines on regulation of public advertisements.
This guidelines seeks to prevent ruling politicians at all levels from misusing tax payers’ money to enhance their image or of their parties as it is against democratic principles.
This judgment was given by SC Bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Pinaki Chandra Ghose on a PIL filed by Common Cause, a registered society.

Guidelines set by Supreme Court

• Ban on the use of photographs of ministers and party leaders in the government advertisements released by government institutions and autonomous bodies.
• Only photographs of the President, Prime Minister (PM) and Chief Justice of India (CJI) can feature in the government advertisements with their prior approval.
• Besides, the photos of late national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru can be used in these advertisements.
• Henceforth, official advertisements should not carry the name of any political party, political symbol, logo or flag.
• In order to regulate the issue of public advertisement and to keep check  on framed guidelines to  prevent its violation, Union government must constitute a three-member committee.

Background

• The SC issued the guidelines on the basis of the recommendations of a three-member Committee headed by Prof NR Madhava Menon, former Director of the National Judicial Academy (NJA), Bhopal.
• The committee was asked to frame guidelines in order to prevent misuse of public funds by the government and authorities in giving ads in newspapers and television to gain political mileage.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2015