Apex court to hear PIL seeking check on govt achievement ads

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear PIL seeking to restrain Union and state governments to advertise their self-professed achievements using taxpayers’ money.

The PIL filed by an NGO, Foundation for Restoration of National Values, submitted that governments should be restrained from using tax payers’ money for the purpose of “eulogising” and glorifying” their achievements.

Appearing before a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, advocate R P Mehrotra pleaded that governments be forthwith directed to stop issuance of full-page advertisements and other forms of publicity with money from the public exchequer and public funds.

The bench after hearing his contention tagged the case with another pending PIL pertaining to advertisements by government and various ministries on the occasion of birth and death anniversaries of political leaders.

The NGO, whose advisory board comprises former Chief Justice M N Venkatachaliah, Ratan Tata, E Sreedharan, alleged that such advertisements were wasteful expenditure of governments which could not be justified.

“This wasteful and wholly unnecessary exercise cannot be justified in any manner, particularly at a time when various development and beneficent schemes are not able to reach the masses and the unprivileged, owing to either paucity of funds or infrastructural deficiencies,” the NGO said in its petition.

“Crores of rupees spent in advertisements, publicity and on self-glorification, could be usefully and fruitfully spent on development and growth,” it said.

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