Delhi govt’s ad campaign:Give expenditure details, explain source of funds, asks HC

The apex court had, in an order in May, banned the use of government funds for advertisements that featured political parties or leaders.

[related-post]

“Delhi government is directed to file its response by August 3, 2015, positively meeting all the allegations made in the petition. It shall also furnish the details of the amounts spent and the source of the expenditure for the government’s advertisement by print and electronic media after May 13, 2015, judgment of the Supreme Court…” stated the court in its order.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared along with advocate Aman Panwar, claimed that the government was “blatantly misusing” public funds with its advertisements on TV and newspapers.

The court also asked why ads for Delhi government had been published in newspapers across the country.

“Why did you have a Hindi ad in a Tamil Nadu paper,” asked the court, adding, “A lot of money is being spent on these ads. We would like to know where it (the money) is coming from,” said the bench.

Delhi government’s standing counsel Raman Duggal informed the court that the advertisements had been issued using “AAP party funds” but admitted that a large number of advertisements had “already been removed as they did not conform to the Supreme Court’s
guidelines.”

The case will come up for hearing again on Monday.