The Tamil Nadu government has started releasing advertisements in newspapers without the pictures of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, adhering to the May 13 Supreme Court judgment restraining ruling parties from publishing photographs of political leaders in government-funded advertisements.
The advertisements, published in the vernacular eveningers on Monday, had only the name of the Chief Minister in bold letters on top with only pictures and details of the schemes.
In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court had said that taxpayers’ money cannot be spent on building “personality cults” of political leaders and restrained photographs of even Chief Ministers as they diverted attention from policies.
Review petition
The Tamil Nadu government was the first to move the apex court for a review of the judgment. In its petition, the State government said the judgment contradicts the federal structure based on grounds of “parity” between the Centre and States and requested it to be set aside. It contended that the party in power has the right to publish the Chief Minister’s photograph in a government advertisement on its achievements.
They only had the name of Chief Minister in bold letters on top
