SC bans advertisements carrying political leaders’ snaps

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday banned advertisement carrying the pictures of political leaders after taking a sou moto notice of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s pictures on Punjab government’s health cards and laptops.

A three-member bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar took the decision during a hearing.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) information secretary also appeared before the court and CJP Nisar asked him that how many advertisements were given by KP government on print and electronic media and whether they carried the pictures of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

He told the court that KP government advertised on electronic and print media, radio and social media but it had no policy of featuring images of political leaders.

CJP Nisar then said that the court was not banning advertisements but only the section that carried pictures.

Responding to CJP Nisar’s question regarding the amount spent by KP government on advertisements, KP information secretary said that KP government spent more than Rs 1 billion during PTI’s tenure on advertisements that were meant to facilitate the public rather than promote personal interests.

CJP Nisar asked him to submit an affidavit if there were no advertisements with pictures of political leaders in KP and warned that strict action would be taken if the affidavit proved false.