Plea in Delhi HC seeking ban on use of PM, President photos in ads

A public interest litigation has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on publishing, printing and misuse of photos and names of the persons holding Constitutional positions including the President, Prime Minister in private/ classified advertisements..The petition filed by one Ajay Gautam stated that,.“A common man falls prey and becomes victim of such advertisements which carry messages and photographs of persons holding Constitutional posts e.g. President, Prime Minister, Home Minister, Governor, Chief Minister, Cabinet Minister etc., in the private advertisements. .Because such advertisements claim support of the persons holding constitutional posts. In this manner lakhs and crores of the citizens of this country are exploited by such advertisements which depict messages and photos of the persons holding constitutional posts. Although the actual position stands revealed from the reply given under R.T.I.”.The petitioner has also alleged that Reliance, while launching its product ‘JIO’ used the name and picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi..It was further contended that newspapers, news agencies and broadcast agencies have offended the standards of journalistic ethics..The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar sought the Central Government’s response on the plea..Read Petition: