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No politics in govt ads, SC panel says

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सरकारी विज्ञापनों पर नहीं लगेगी नेताओं की तस्वीर — सुप्रीम कोर्ट

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday put an end to taxpayer-funded, full-blown narcissism of politicians by banning the government from issuing media advertisements containing photos of chief ministers, ministers and political leaders of ruling parties.A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and P C Ghose said exceptions could be made only for photographs of the President, prime minister and chief justice of India.The court said publishing photographs of politicians, associating them with government policy and its achievement, could develop personality cult in the country which was a direct antithesis of democratic functioning and should not be allowed. With the court permitting only the photographs of the President, prime minister and CJI in government advertisements, pictures of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other prominent leaders would vanish from government advertisements in media and other public places.While the order may appear to tilt the advertizing space to the advantage of the ruling party at the Centre, it will offer respite from the eyesore of politicians of all hues and sizes staring from the skyline or leaping out at readers from morning papers.While ministers and lawmakers, both at the Centre and in states, governors and leaders of different political parties are going to be affected, it is the chief ministers, faces of state governments, who will bear the brunt.The Delhi government’s hoardings at various places in the national capital featuring Arvind Kejriwal will also have to be removed.Expressing concern over the misuse of public funds for personal political gains, the bench said that there was nothing wrong in government advertising its policies and achievements but it must be done without naming the party in power and without containing pictures of its leaders.The bench accepted an SC-appointed committee’s recommendations on the nature of government advertisements. Although the committee had suggested that pictures of the President/governor and prime minister/chief minister be allowed, the court restricted it only to photos of the President, PM and CJI.“The legitimate and permissible object of an advertisement can always be achieved without publication of the photograph of any particular functionary either in the state or a political party. We are, therefore, of the view that in departure to the views of the committee which recommended permissibility of publication of the photographs of the President and prime minister of the country and governor or chief minister of the state along with the advertisements, there should be an exception only in the case of the President, prime minister and chief justice of the country who may themselves decide the question,” the bench said.With regard to advertisements for birth and death anniversary of a departed leader, the court said their pictures can be published in advertisements. It, however, said there was no need to multiple advertisements given by various departments, ministries and PSUs on such occasions and only one advertisement be published.“One single advertisement issued by a central agency should be enough to commemorate the anniversaries of the few acknowledged and undisputed public figures whose contribution to the national cause cannot raise any dispute or debate,” the bench said.The court, however, refused to restrain government from publishing advertisements six months prior to election as suggested by its committee comprising eminent academician N R Madhava Menon, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar (now solicitor general) and former secretary general of Lok Sabha T K Viswanathan.“If government advertisements adhere to the objects and parameters mentioned above we do not feel the necessity of imposing a special curb on government advertisements on the eve of the elections, as suggested by the committee,” it said.The court also asked the Centre to appoint a three member committee consisting of persons with “unimpeachable neutrality and impartiality” to oversee that its order was implemented and public fund was not misused to gain political mileage through publishing advertisements.It said advertisement should not issued by government institutions on any celebration saying “Institutions need not be glorified. They must earn glory by contribution and work”.“Publication of the photograph of an individual be a state or party functionary not only has the tendency of associating that particular individual with either the achievement(s) sought to be highlighted or being the architect of the benefits in respect of which information is sought to be percolated. Alternatively, programmes/targets for the future as advertised carry the impression of being associated with the particular individual(s). Photographs, therefore, have the potential of developing the personality cult and the image of a one or a few individuals which is a direct antithesis of democratic functioning,” it said.Noting that government advertisements are published every day, it said the public fund should not be misused for an unproductive purposes and the government must use the resources for the uplift of millions of poor people of the country who live below poverty line.“Though the achievements of a government should not be a matter of publicity and really ought to be a matter of perception to be felt by the citizens on the results achieved, such advertisements do have the effect of keeping the citizens informed of the government functioning and therefore would be permissible,” it said.The court said that it was issuing the guidelines as there was no law to regulate government advertisements and it would be in enforce till law is framed on the issue.It said that patronization of any particular media house(s) must be avoided and award of advertisements must be on an equal basis to all newspapers who may be categorized depending upon their circulation.“The DAVP guidelines do not deal with the said aspect of the matter and hence the necessity of incorporating the same in the present directions to ensure the independence, impartiality and the neutrality of the fourth estate which is vital to the growth and sustenance of democracy will have to be weighed and considered by us,” the court said.