Political advertisement ban: Delhi HC reserves order

The Delhi High Court Friday reserved its order on a plea seeking to set aside guidelines banning "political advertisements" on public service vehicles (PSVs).

A division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru reserved the order after the lawyers representing the Delhi government, autorickshaw union and the petitioner concluded their arguments in the case.

The autorickshaw union moved against the fresh guidelines issued by the transport department and approved by Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung May 19.

During the hearing, the Delhi government's counsel Zubeda Begum opposed the plea and sought dismissal of the petition.

Earlier, the court asked the government to remove the word "political" from the guidelines under which political advertisements cannot be carried on vehicles.

The new guidelines specify the system of approvals for advertisements and the areas where they can be displayed. Advertisements cannot be displayed without the approval from the municipal bodies. They will be allowed only for vehicles having GPS and GPRS systems.

The bench also questioned the government step to allow advertisements only for auto-rickshaws having Global Positioning System (GPS) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system and pre-censorship of advertisements by civic bodies.

The bench said it will decide three issues: whether political advertisement should be allowed on PSVs, their pre-censorship, and on the issue that advertisement will be allowed only for vehicles having GPS and GPRS systems.

The auto union has contended that the guidelines interfere with the right of smaller political parties to express their political views via advertisements on autorickshaws, a cheaper medium for expressing view.

The guidelines said approvals will not be granted if the advertisement contains "political, ethnic, religious or sectarian text".

The petition pleaded the court to allow autorickshaw drivers to display advertisements and social messages on their vehicles carrying political content.

The plea contended that larger political parties have means and "they spent lakhs and crores on advertisements to express their views" and it is an attempt to interfere with the constitutional rights of the smaller political parties.

In June 2013, the former Sheila Dikshit government courted controversy by banning advertisements on PSVs after autorickshaws started sporting Aam Aadmi Party posters in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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