Rejecting the contentions of the Trinamool Congress government for denying advertisement to Ganashakti, the mouth piece of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Calcutta High Court in a recent order has held that “so-called political affiliation is not an impediment” for denying advertisements to the paper.
The Bengali daily had approached the High Court in 2012 claiming that it was being discriminated against as the West Bengal government had refused to give any advertisement to the publication.
“The nature of ownership of a newspaper cannot be a criterion to deny advertisement by a government,” Justice Debanagsu Basak said in an order which was issued a few days ago.
Ganashakti had claimed in the writ petition that advertisements were denied to the publication since May 20, 2011 after the Trinamool Congress government came to power in West Bengal.
The affidavit filed by the West Bengal government did not deny the claim. The justification for such an action by the State government was that it was not releasing advertisements to the newspaper as it has a direct political affiliation.
