- (1.) An accredited newspaper, Ganashakti, the first writ petitioner herein has been denied Government advertisements on the ground that the first writ petitioner is an organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)[CPI(M)], a political party, and that the State Government could not allow the State Exchequer to fund a political party. The writ petitioners assail such conduct of the State Government in this writ petition.
(2.) Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, learned Senior Advocate for the writ petitioners points out that, the first writ petitioner is an accredited newspaper recognized by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Government of India. He submits that the right to free speech and expression is a fundamental right. The constitutional guarantee of freedom of the Press has been recognized in various reported decisions of various High Courts as well as the Supreme Court of India.
(3.) Mr. Bhattacharyya submits that, the State Government is guided by the guidelines of distribution of advertisements as declared by the DAVP in Annexure P/4 to the writ petition. Such policy is valid till date. The State Government is, therefore, required to adhere to such policy in distributing the advertisements. The denial of advertisements to a particular newspaper on the ground of political consideration is not only a violation of the declared policy of DAVP but also a violation of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of Press as well as infringement of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Mr. Bhattacharyya contends that, the guidelines prepared by DAVP for the distribution of Government advertisements are applicable to all State Governments. Such guidelines do not allow the State Government to deny advertisements to a newspaper on any political consideration.;