NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court directed all states and union territories on Wednesday to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for addressing complaints against deceptive advertisements that “can cause great harm to society”.
The panel comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan mandated that state authorities should create procedures for citizens to report advertisements prohibited under the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954. “We direct the states governments to create proper grievance redressal mechanisms within a period of two months from today and give adequate publicity to the availability at frequent intervals,” the panel stated, as quoted by news agency PTI.
The apex court also instructed states to raise awareness among police forces regarding the implementation of the 1954 act’s provisions.
Taking action against deceptive advertisements, the court on May 7, 2024 ordered that advertisers must provide a self-declaration, similar to Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, before publishing any advertisement.
The subject of misleading advertisements started when the top court was considering a petition filed in 2022 by the Indian Medical Association, which alleged that Patanjali and yoga guru Ramdev were conducting a defamatory campaign against Covid vaccinations and contemporary medicine.