Frame Guidelines on Advt involving poiticians
New Delhi: The supreme court on Friday directed the government to lay the guidelines for regulating the expenditure by its various departments on advertisements glorifying political leaders at the cost of tax payers’ money. A bench comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justices C K Thakker and R V Raveendran said if the government did not come out with any decision on the issue by December, the court will then proceed to frame some guidelines and listed the matter for further hearing in first week of January. The order to this effect was passed after additional solicitor general (ASG) Amrender Sharan said the information and broadcasting ministry, which is the nodal agency, has convened a meeting of all departments and states in the first week of December to discuss the matter at length. The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of the ministry’s secretary, the ASG said. The bench, which wanted the matter to be considered by the government on priority basis, observed “lakhs and lakhs of rupees are spent on such advertisements and there has to be some regulations and guidelines.” The court, while issuing notices on July 28 to the Centre, states and Union territories, had disapproved of advertisements with political content issued by government departments. The order was passed on a PIL filed by Advocate Manzoor Ali Khan alleging that by spending tax payers’ money for private and personal benefit, “the Centre and its instrumentalities have committed not only breach of trust but it also amounts to misappropriation of public money”. The court, during the last hearing, had sought to know if the finance ministry had any regulations to check such expenditure by government departments on issuing advertisements in newspapers on birth and death anniversaries of political leaders. The court had said there was a need for introspection on the issue and had cited the example of developed nations where such activities were sponsored by political parties themselves. TNN AND AGENCIES CASH COURSE The apex court warned the govt that if it did not come out with any decision on the issue by December, the court will then proceed to frame some guidelines The bench observed ‘lakhs and lakhs of rupees are spent on such advertisements and there has to be some regulations and guidelines’ Information and broadcasting ministry, which is the nodal agency, has convened a meeting of all departments and states in the first week of December to discuss the matter at length
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