MISLEADING ADS Chandigarh, November 13 The Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a notice on a petition filed by a Chandigarh-based company and another petitioner challenging the Advertising Standard Council of India’s (ASCI) powers to regulate misleading advertisements. The issue before the High Court is whether a private body like the ASCI could regulate fundamental rights and that too by code drafted by it. Elaborating, counsel for a petitioner-company Amrinder Singh (L&S Attorneys) argued that commercial speech or advertisement was covered under the freedom of speech and expression and could be regulated only by ‘law’. He submitted that the petitioner, a Chandigarh-based company, published an advertisement in a newspaper, but was directed by the private self-regulatory body to discontinue with the same. Direction was also forwarded to the newspaper and other media bodies. Taking up the matter, Justice Sanjay Kumar fixed the case for February 6 next before directing the ASCI not to publish details of its findings regarding the petitioner-company on its website. Referring to a press release on the ASCI’s website, Amrinder Singh submitted the body was appointed by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) as the “executive arm to curb misleading advertisements”. He added there was no law or notification, which empowered the DCA to delegate power to a private body to either draft code or adjudicate complaints pertaining to misleading advertisements. The delegation of power to a tribunal-like body run by private individuals was, as such, allegedly arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. Amrinder Singh added the power was delegated through a memorandum of understanding between the ASCI and the DCA, which was illegal. Elaborating up the procedure, Amrinder Singh asserted the ASCI was a company established under Section 25 of the Companies Act and described itself as a voluntary self-regulatory organisation. After adjudicating a complaint, the ASCI published the finding on its website. This, he added, violated the right to do business as it caused irreparable loss to reputation. The website contained ‘recommendations’, which disclosed details of the party concerned and the findings against it.

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