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| A Coca-Cola advertisement from the 1890s in USA. |
Recently, the Supreme Court gave
a judgment relating to use of public funds in government advertising campaigns.
Let us understand the crux of the matter.
Contentions raised by the
Petitioners
1. In this case, the petitioners
contended that government issues numerous full page advertisements in the print
media as well as in the electronic media.
2. These advertisements project
political personalities and proclaim the achievements of particular political
governments and parties at the expense of the public exchequer.
3. According to
the petitioners, this clearly attracts Article 14 and Article 21 as no
immediate public interest is involved in such expenditure.
4. Also, such
advertisements become more blatant and assume alarming proportions just before
the announcement of the general elections.
Contentions raised by the
Respondents
1. On the other hand, Union of India
and various States submitted the necessity of advertisement in the print and electronic
media for dissemination of information in a democratic setup.
2. The government also made
reference to the decision in Umesh Mohan Sethi v. Union of India[1] which held that :
"if the Government
purports to spend money for a purpose which it characterizes as a public
purpose though in point of fact it is not a public purpose, the proper place to
criticize the action of the Government would be the legislature or the
Appropriation Committee and Courts are not the forum in which the Government’s
action could be sought to be criticized or restrained."
Discussion
However, the court by citing Shrilekha
Vidyarthi vs. State of UP[2], unequivocally rejected
the argument based on the theory of absolute discretion of the administrative authorities
and immunity of their action from judicial review and observed:
“It can no longer be
doubted at this point of time that Articles of the Constitution of India apply
also to matters of Governmental policy and if the policy or any action of the
government, even in contractual matters, fails to satisfy the test of
reasonableness, it would be unconstitutional.”
The court also said this issue
might be new to India but not for other countries. Various developed countries
have solved this crisis by framing the Government Advertising Guidelines, which
set out the policies and processes that apply to Government advertisement. The court
cited the examples of Australia and Canada.
Concluding Remarks by the
Court
Finally, the court said that the Government
advertising is a mode for the Government to disseminate to the members of the
public, of information about a government program, policy or initiative, or
about any public health or safety or other matters that is funded by or on
behalf of a Government agency. It is only through such advertisements that the
Government communicates with its citizens which plays an important role in
efficiently and effectively achieving the goals of public policy.
On the other hand, the primary
cause of government advertisement is to use public funds to inform the public
of their rights, obligations, and entitlements as well as to explain Government
policies, programs, services and initiatives. However, when these requisites
are not fulfilled in a Government advertisement than the whole purpose gets
frustrated. Election Commission of India had also expressed concern about this
matter but could not do anything owing to lack of jurisdiction.
Thus, the court held that the
subject matter for which guidelines are to be framed is significant. The
Court constituted a Committee consisting of three members to undertake the task
of suggesting guidelines to this Court after an intricate study of all the best
practices in public advertisements in different jurisdictions and to submit the
same before the Court within a period of three months.
I will post my opinion in the next post.
To Be Continued....
Next Post: Common Cause v. Union of India - My Opinion on Government Advertising Campaigns
Next Post: Common Cause v. Union of India - My Opinion on Government Advertising Campaigns
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