Cuttack, Feb 4: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Orissa High Court has challenged the use of pictures of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, MLAs and leaders of his party to publicise different programmes of the State government.
The petitioner has stated that while crores are being spent from the State exchequer on this account, the Chief Minister and political leaders are reaping personal benefits. “This is in violation of the Supreme Court’s order in this regard”, the petition states.
The petitioner has further alleged that putting up of hoardings, banners and advertisements with pictures of the Chief Minister, local MLAs and BJD leaders for distribution of ration cards under the NFSA as utilization of public money for the personal publicity of some particular politicians. “The rules are against use of photographs of politicians in government advertisements barring few areas. The apex court has clearly ruled that printing of photographs of politicians in government advertisements as misuse of public money”, the petition states.
