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ARTICLE · 06 JUNE 2024

Supreme Court's Mandate On Self-Declaration: An Added Compliance Challenge For Advertisers?

Saikrishna and Associates, Advocates
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On May 7, 2024, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India issued an Order in the case of Indian Medical Association & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., mandating that advertisers and advertising agencies submit a self-declaration before any advertisement is published, aired, or displayed.

IndiaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Vivek Ayyagari
Vivek Ayyagari
Srishti Kumar
Srishti Kumar
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On May 7, 2024, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India issued an Order in the case of Indian Medical Association & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.1, mandating that advertisers and advertising agencies submit a self-declaration before any advertisement is published, aired, or displayed.

This Order was passed in the background of the alleged deceptive and misleading advertisements by Patanjali promoting its product 'Coronil' and making false claims about curing diseases related to COVID-19.

The Hon'ble Court was of the view that there is an absence of any robust mechanism to ensure compliance with the current applicable laws in relation to misleading advertisements and therefore mandated the aforesaid self-declaration in exercise of its powers under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for enforcement of the fundamental right to health2.

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