SC constitutes panel to draft norms on govt advertising
Panel formed for framing guidelines to prevent misuse of public funds for govt ads to get political mileage
New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday set up a committee to help frame guidelines to curb the misuse of public funds to promote political personalities and agendas, and suggested studying best practices in other countries on regulating government advertisements.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam appointed N.R. Madhava Menon, former director of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal; T.K. Viswanathan, former secretary general, Lok Sabha, and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar as members of the committee. The apex court has asked the committee to submit its report in three months.
“We deem it proper to constitute a committee consisting of three members to undertake the task of suggesting guidelines to this court after an intricate study of all the best practices in public advertisements in different jurisdictions and to submit the same before this court preferably within a period of three months," the court said in its order.
The court passed the order on a public interest litigation filed by non-governmental organization Common Cause and Centre for Public Interest Litigation.
“The present writ petitions challenge the government advertisements of political nature at the cost of the public exchequer on the ground that they are in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution," the court said.
The petition sought issuance of guidelines for curbing ruling parties in states and the centre from gaining political mileage by projecting their leaders in official advertisements.
Representing the Editors Guild of India, N. Ravi, editor-in-chief of The Hindu, and president of the body, said: “It will be a good thing if it leads to norm-based rather than arbitrary allocation of advertisements among newspapers and television channels."
Ravi also said there is a “real need" for a government’s advertisements to highlight its programmes and policies “rather than just a means of patronage".
At present, the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) is the nodal agency responsible for allocating advertisements by various ministries and government organizations, including public sector firms and autonomous bodies.
But DAVP’s guidelines deal only with the eligibility and empanelment of newspapers, journals and other media, their rates and such matters.
Ravi Dhariwal, chief executive, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd, which publishes The Times of India and The Economic Times, declined to comment on the apex court’s decision as he had not reviewed the order.
PTI contributed to this story.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!