PARAS GUPTA Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition, by way of Public Interest Litigation, is filed complaining that there is blatant violation of various provisions of Cable Television Network (Regulations) Act, 1995 and the Rules framed thereunder in the State of Jammu & Kashmir on account of unregulated television contents in the shape of either advertisements for commercial products or programmes.

(2.) IT is the contention of the petitioner that while advertising the products in television, the advertisers persuade the viewers to buy their products by depicting women in an indecent manner, which has the effect of denigrating women, and the said act violates the provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women Prohibition Act, 1986. It is also the contention of the petitioner that some advertisers and television in promoting their products through the programmes telecast throughout the country, which has the effect of promoting superstition among the general masses dragging them towards magical remedies and magical cure by misleading the public at large in gross violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. Since the said Acts have not been made applicable to the State of Jammu & Kashmir, petitioner has prayed to issue a direction to the Government to consider drafting of Laws on the analogy of aforementioned Acts as the purpose before the enactment in other areas used to protect the moral fabric of the society.

(3.) DURING the pendency of the Writ Petition, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an Office Memorandum on 21.8.2014 stating that the Advertisement Standards Council of India (ASCI) noted certain objectionable advertisements received from Consumer Complaints Council, violating the provisions of the Code for self regulation as well as to the provisions of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the same was placed before the IMC for its recommendation and it was ordered that the advertisements which are violative of ASCI cannot be carried on TV channels and recommended to advise all Channels not to telecast the advertisements which are found violative by ASCI. In terms of the said recommendation, an advisory has also been issued to all TV channels.