Madhya Pradesh denies releasing advertisement with CM's photographs

Even though the Supreme Court has prohibited the use of photographs of governors and chief ministers in advertisements put up by state governments or its agencies, a leading national daily on Friday came out with a two-page pull out carrying the photographs of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan along with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two pages, called a media marketing initiative, carry five photographs of Chauhan at different functions and a write up by him. The pages project the achievements of the Modi government at the centre and the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

The Madhya Pradesh government, though has denied it had released any such ad. The head of the Madhya Pradesh public relation department, Anil Mathur, told IANS that they were not aware of any pull-out in a Delhi paper.

Mathur said it has already issued instructions that no photograph of the chief minister or any other minister would be carried in the advertisements issued by the state government or its agencies. Moreover, he said all such advertisement had been withdrawn after the apex court verdict.

In a landmark judgment, the apex court on May 13 prohibited the use of photographs of political leaders, including chief ministers and governors, in advertisements issued by the government and its agencies, saying that it leads to promotion of a personality cult.

The court only alowed use of photographs of the president, the prime minister and the chief justice of India and departed leaders.

Counsel Prashant Bhushan who appeared for an NGO in the matter resulting in the apex court verdict says that on the face of it the pull-out appeared to be a paid news item. If it is paid by the state government then it would amount to a contempt of court. If paid by the party (BJP) it would not, but then the paper has to disclose who paid for it, he said. The papers marketing department could not be immediately contacted