BIGWIGS' CONTEMPT OF COURT

Common Cause has filed a contempt petition against the State Govts of UP, TN & Delhi for publishing public-funded advertisements in violation of the letter and spirit of the Apex Court's guidelines regarding large scale advertisements. The Court on May 13, 2015, had inter alia banned images of politicians in ads at the taxpayer's expense, except for the PM, President, & the CJI, after carefully considering the guidelines for government advertisements submitted by a three member panel comprising of Prof. (Dr.) N.R. Madhava Menon, former Director, National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, Mr. T.K. Viswanathan, former Secretary General, Lok Sabha and Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Senior Advocate.

However, despite the categorical pronouncement, the Respondent States have derogated from the spirit of the judgment. Government advertisement at public expenses were strictly to be undertaken only for dissemination of information regarding changes in policy, new initiatives, benefit schemes etc. However, in months following the said decision, the Respondent State Governments have allocated huge funds for government advertisement towards advertising for personal political gain, through television, radio and print media. Similarly, in stark violation of the prescriptions of the Apex Court, the Respondent States have continued to publish photographs of political functionaries in governmental ads, outside the exceptions carved in the judgment. Further, publicly funded advertisements glorifying their political leaders, ostensibly in celebration of anniversaries of various state governments, have been published in the national media targeting readers and viewers beyond state borders. These advertisements have attempted to circumvent the guidelines of the Apex Court by refraining from carrying the pictures of political leaders, emphasizing, instead, on the name of the political functionaries. It has been observed that even in advertisement purportedly for information dissemination, relevant information occupies only a small portion of the advertised space while the larger and more prominent part is dedicated to laudatory and self-congratulatory references to political functionaries at the tax-payers’ expense, causing a massive drain of tax-payers money.

The contempt petition and relevant orders may be accessed here.