ECI prohibits ads sans nod on Poll Day
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 05 2024:
Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a directive urging political parties, candidates, organisations, and individuals to abstain from publishing any advertisements in print media without pre-cer-tification on Poll Day and one day preceding it.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories on April 1, the Election Commission highlighted instances of misleading and offending advertisements appearing in print media during past elections.
Such advertisements, particularly in the final stages of elections, have been observed to disrupt the integrity of the electoral process, depriving affected candidates and parties of the opportunity to clarify or rebut.
To prevent the recurrence of such incidents and to curb the dissemination of inflammatory, misleading, or hateful content through advertisements, ECI invoked its authority under Article 324 of the Constitution.
Accordingly, it mandated that no political party, candidate, organisation, or individual should publish any advertisement in print media on Poll Day and the day prior, unless the contents are pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMC) at the state or district level, the letter said.
This directive applies to political advertisements intended for publication in print media circulating in states and union territories scheduled for elections in different phases.
For the initial phase, the Restricted Days are identified as Poll Day on April 19, 2024, and one day prior on April 18, 2024, the letter added.
In the letter, ECI further elaborated that parties or individuals concerned must submit their applications for pre-certification to the MCMC no later than two days before the proposed date of advertisement publication.