The Supreme Court of India today appointed Shadaan Faraz, Advocate, as an Amicus Curiae in the matter pertaining self declarations before advertisements. The Court further directed the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to hold meetings with the stakeholders to suggest how to streamline the process.
In the matter of Indian Medical Association & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors., Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah vide their order dated May 07, 2024, had passed directions that self-declaration shall be uploaded before any advertisement could be issued in Press/Print Media/Internet.
In view of the wide ramifications of such directions, various stakeholders approached the Supreme Court of India. The first of such applications was filed by Karanjawala & Co. on behalf of the Association of Radio Operators for India and they were led by Mr. Sidharth Dave, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Prasenjit Keswani, Advocate and the teams of Ms. Meghna Mishra, Senior Partner and Mr. Debmalya C. Banerjee, Partner.
Other Applications were filed on behalf of Associations such as the Internet and Mobile Association of India, Broadband India Forum, Indian Newspaper Society, Indian Society of Advertisers, and Advertising Agencies Association of India.
The Bench, comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sandeep Mehta, stated that they were cognizant of the difficulties and appointed Shadaan Faraz, Advocate, as an Amicus Curiae in the matter. They further directed the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to hold meetings with the stakeholders to suggest how to streamline the process and listed the said matter on 30.07.2024.
