Andhra Pradesh High Court's Key Comments On Using YSR's Pics For Government Schemes

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday observed that there was nothing wrong in publishing the photographs of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on the government advertisements and other AP's schemes.

Senior advocate Dammalapati Srinivas told the high court that the photo of the late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy could not be used in the state government's advertisements. He said that he did not object the presence of the Chief Minister of the state, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's photos but the presence of the photos of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy was contrary to the Supreme Court's judgment.

Dammalapati also told the court that the ruling party was using its party's colours in government advertisements. The bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and J Umadevi on Monday directed K. Naga Sravan a resident of Vijayawada who has filed a Public Interest Litigation on government advertisements, to get the matter listed before the regular court.

Sravan in his petition filed that the government should not use photographs of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the advertisements and  photographs other than those of the President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, and Governor except when it is felt essential for effective government messaging.

The bench said that there was nothing wrong in publishing the pictures of YS Rajasekhara Reddy as he served the state as the chief minister of the state. The bench also questioned the petitioner as to why he had not approached the Supreme Court over the matter. The bench also asked the petitioner, did the centre and the state have formulated any guidelines in this regard? Dammalapati said that there are no such specific rules. He asserted that the government was acting against the judgment of the Supreme Court. He also added that the Supreme Court had said that the advertisements should not include photos of anyone, including ministers, except the photo of the Chief Minister.

Advocate General (AG) Shriram argued on behalf of the government. He said that the petitioner and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu are working hand in glove. He further added that during the reign of Chandrababu, the yellow colour was used for advertisements in magazines, and a press release was shown to the bench. He said that photos of Chandrababu, Lokesh, and Narayana were widely used in government advertisements and then the petitioner didn't raise his voice.