Reply on plea to ban intoxicants ads on internet: HC to Centre

The Delhi High Court today sought the Centre's response on a plea seeking a direction to take steps to prohibit advertisements promoting production, sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products, liquor and other intoxicants on the internet.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath issued notice to the Centre and asked it to file its reply by August 17 on the petition which also sought a direction to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to frame laws forthwith to prohibit any such advertisement on internet.
The plea by Rishabh Kapur sought issuance of appropriate guidelines prohibiting any such advertisements "as a stopgap measure".

The petition has claimed that adequate laws have neither been enacted nor amendments have been made to the Information Technology Act or other related legislation, to bring internet within the purview of media platforms on which advertisements promoting the production, sale, consumption of cigarettes and tobacco products, liquors or other intoxicants are prohibited.
"As a result, the advertisement and promotion of the said intoxicants are carried out openly and unabashedly on the internet, for want of a specific prohibition of the same in any of the legislations," it said.
"This vacuum, thus created, has defeated entire purpose of the prohibition as the said promotions and advertisements are going on uncensored on the internet," the plea alleged.

It said such advertisements should be banned on internet and the ministry should be directed to amend the appropriate legislations accordingly, so as to implement the prohibition at a wider scale to include all media platforms.
"However, till such time that the legislature steps in to cover the gap or the executive discharges its role, this Court may be pleased to give necessary directions to fill the vacuum," it said.
During the hearing, Central government's standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia told the bench there were certain guidelines in this aspect. The court, however, asked him to file an affidavit to the averments raised in the petition.