Case Summary and Outcome

The Supreme Court of India ruled that in the absence of any other law or policy, there was a need for the Court to lay down guidelines to check misuse of public funds by the government for political advertising. The NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation  sought to restrain the central and state governments from using public funds for political advertising and asked the Supreme Court for guidance on this matter. The Court examined the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DVAP) and reasoned that it dealt only with eligibility and empanelment of newspapers, journals, and other media and their rates of payment, among other matters. The Court also referred to government advertising policies in Australia and Canada and concluded that there was a need for the Court to lay down substantive guidelines before the legislature enacts an appropriate law.

Facts

Common Cause filed writ petitions seeking mandamus to restrain the central and state governments from using public funds for political advertising and seeking Supreme Court guidelines on this matter. The Union of India argued that substantive guidelines regulating government advertisements had already been issued by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DVAP), an agency of the Government of India, and thus Supreme Court guidelines were not required.

Decision Overview

The Court also referred to government advertising policies in Australia and Canada. It concluded that there is a need for the Court to lay down substantive guidelines before the legislature enacts an appropriate law. It composed a three-member committee to suggest guidelines on this matter to the Court.

The committee submitted its report in October, 2014. It recommended that advertisements should avoid glorification of political personalities, and framed guidelines to regulate expenditures and the content of such advertisements, and prevent arbitrary use of public funds to project particular personalities, parties, or governments without any attendant public interest. A Vaidyanathan, Stop Government’s Wasteful Newspaper Ads: Supreme Court Report, NDTV (Oct. 6, 2014).