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A bench comprising Chief Justice Vijendra
Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover of Punjab and Haryana
High Court has issued notices to Information & Broadcasting
(I & B)Ministry and a few liquor companies on a
Pubic Interest Litigation writ petition (PIL) that asked
for restraining liquor companies form promoting their
products, directly or indirectly, in the country through
advertising.
Notices have been issued to I&B Ministry,
central board of film certification, Jagatjit Industries,
United Breweries, SABMiller India, Bacardi Martini India,
Seagram India and Diageo India for submitting their
reply by Oct 30.
The petition that came for hearing on Thursday prayed
for restraining the respondents from promoting directly
or indirectly the sale and consumption of wine, liquor
and other alcoholic products on TV and print media,
that is being done in total violation of the rules and
notification dated 9.8.2005 issued by the ministry of
information and broadcasting.
According to the notification, advertising of a product
that uses a brand name used by a liquor product must
not contain any nuances or phrases used by the liquor
product and must not use particular colours, layout
and presentation associated with the liquor product.
All such advertisements also need to be previewed and
certified by the Central Board of Film Certification
prior to telecast
However, the advertising rules are being flouted openly
by the liquor companies across the board and the government's
apathy in this regards is deplorable, says the petition.
The petition submits that through catchy advertisements
aimed at promoting liquor products, the liquor companies
in India are targeting the youth of the country.
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