In July 2022, the Madurai bench of Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu Government to ensure that the photographs of Indian president and prime minister are published in all the advertisements, both in print and electronic media, for the 44th Chess Olympiad. The court had passed its ruling on a public interest litigation (PIL), seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu Government to advertise/promote the Olympiad with the photographs of the president and prime minister in line with the directions issued by the Supreme Court (SC) in 2015.
The Supreme Court Judgment in 2015
There are two kinds of advertisements in India that have direct political origins—party-funded advertisements and government-funded advertisements, funded by the public ex-chequer. Party-funded advertisements are directly political in nature. However, government-funded advertisements are not directly political in nature. Government funded advertisements are currently regulated by the 2015 Supreme Court judgment in Common Cause vs Union of India.
The SC was hearing the issue of misuse of public funds on government advertisements. The petitioners had argued that advertisements funded by public money were being used to project personalities and political parties. They were promoting personal and political interests. The SC formed a committee headed by N.R. Madhava Menon, a former director of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, for studying the issue and suggesting guidelines to the apex court.
According to the report submitted by the Madhava Menon Committee, the SC then spelt out the following five principles on which government advertisements would be regulated, henceforth:
- Advertising campaigns are to be related to government responsibilities.
- Materials should be presented in an objective, fair and accessible manner, and should be designed to meet the objectives of the campaign.
- Advertisements must not be directed at promoting political interests of a party.
- Campaigns must be justified and undertaken in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
- Advertisements must comply with legal requirements and financial regulations and procedures.
However, the apex court differed with the following recommendations of the committee: appointment of an ombudsman to oversee the implementation of the guidelines; a special performance audit of government spending; and an embargo on publication of advertisements on the eve of elections.
The apex court was equally careful of the fact that government advertisements have an informative quotient. The ruling mandated that government advertisements would not contain a political party’s symbol, logo, or flag. It has to be politically neutral and must refrain from glorifying individual political personalities. The ruling by the SC made an attempt to balance the need for government advertisements, on the one hand, and the need to prohibit any misuse of public funds, on the other.
The committee suggested that only the photographs of the Indian president/prime minister or governor/chief minister shall be used for effective government messaging. However, the SC stated that photographs of leaders should be avoided and there should be an exception only in the case of the president, prime minister, and the chief justice of the country.
The SC stated that advertisements issued to commemorate the anniversaries of acknowledged personalities like the father of the nation would, of course, carry the photograph of the departed leader.
Amendment in Supreme Court’s Judgment of 2015
In 2018, the Centre and the states, including Karnataka, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh sought a review of the verdict of 2015 on the ground that not permitting the publication of the chief minister’s photograph would violate the federal structure. A SC bench, comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and P.C. Ghose, relaxed the bar and allowed the use of pictures of union ministers, chief ministers, governors, and state ministers in government advertisements.
SC Ruling regarding the 44th International Chess Olympiad
The PIL filed by an advocate in Sivaganga district had sought a direction to the state government to advertise/promote the Chess Olympiad with photographs of the president and the prime minister, in line with the directions issued by the SC.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice S. Ananthi stated that when the country is hosting an event of international stature, it is the obligation of one and all to ensure such a function is organised efficiently and no indelible mark is left at the international level. The image of the nation should be of foremost concern to everyone, and such representation would be under the aegis of the president and the prime minister, apart from the chief minister of the state where the tournament is hosted.
They also mentioned that the advertisements did not contain the photographs of the president and the prime minister of India, despite the Olympiad being an official international event organised using public money.
Pleas Turned down by the SC
The state government stated that it did not publish the photograph of the president because presidential elections were not concluded then. The bench refused to accept the stand, and stated that advertisements, without the photograph of the president, were published even after the results were declared.
The bench also refused to accept the excuse of the state government that prime minister’s photograph was not included, since the consent from the prime minister’s office was delayed. The bench stated that despite the Parliament Session, the prime minister had decided to inaugurate the function, considering the significance of the event at the international level. The judges directed the state government to ensure that the photographs of both the president and the prime minister are published in all Chess Olympiad advertisements.
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