SC bans public advertisements carrying pictures of political leaders

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Monday banned public advertisements carrying the pictures of political leaders while hearing a suo moto notice case.

The three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case.

During the course of proceedings, the chief justice asked the Secretary Information Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as to how many advertisements were given by the KP government to print and electronic media and whether the same carried the pictures of Imran Khan and Pervez Khattak.

The secretary information replied that the KP government had got published advertisements in print media and aired the same on electronic media, including radio and television channels, besides social media. No amount was paid for the social media. The KP government had the advertisements policy of carrying no pictures of political leaders, he added.

Upon this, the chief justice remarked that the apex court was not banning advertisements, but only those which carried pictures of the leaders.

To a query of the chief justice regarding expenses incurred by the KP government on advertisements, the secretary said the present provincial government had spent Rs 1.63 billion on advertisements during its tenure. There was no personal publicity as advertisements usually carried information about projects for public facilitation, he added.

On which, the chief justice asked the secretary to submit an affidavit that no advertisement with pictures of political leaders in KP had been published or aired and warned that if the affidavit proved false then strict action would be taken.

He remarked that the court had many sources of information and it had sought details of all government advertisements published or aired in print or electronic media during last year.

The chief justice observed that no political campaign at public expense would be allowed and if any government wanted to do so then personal funds of leaders should be used for the purpose.

He said the Punjab chief minister had promised to deposit Rs 5.5 million.

Over advertisements in Sindh, the chief justice observed that Benazir Bhutto Shaheed’s picture should not appear. Benazir was a martyr and she was respectable, he added.

Similarly, pictures of Bilawal Bhutto and the Sindh chief minister should also not appear on advertisements, he said.

The court also sought suggestions from federal and provincial governments, All Pakistan Newspapers Society and Pakistan Broadcasters Association regarding the advertisements by Tuesday.