SC moved against glorifying politicos in govt ads

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Centre, six state governments and the BJP on a plea by a Delhi AAP MLA contending they have glorified political leaders in public advertisements in violation of the apex court's directions.

The court sought a response from BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and TRS-ruled Telangana.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Navin Sinha and K M Joseph asked them to file their responses within four weeks on an application by Sanjeev Jha, an MLA from Burari constituency here.

He has sought a direction from the top court that a committee constituted by the Centre should be asked to take cognizance of these alleged violations and initiate appropriate proceedings against them.

Order modified

On May 13, 2015 the apex court had issued a slew of directions, including asking the Centre to constitute a three-member committee "consisting of persons with unimpeachable neutrality and impartiality" to regulate the issue of public advertisements. On March 18, 2016, the apex court modified its order and said the pictures of Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, Governors and State Ministers can appear in government advertisements. The judgement was then delivered on a PIL by NGO 'Common Cause'.