The Supreme Court has ruled that under the fundamental right to health, a consumer had the right to know about the quality of products being offered by the manufacturers and those advertising them.
Taking a serious view of the dismal implementation of guidelines against misleading advertisements, the Bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah directed that from now on, an advertiser or the advertising agency would have to submit a self-declaration form before printing or displaying any advertisement.
The declaration would state that the advertisement complied with the Advertising Code given under the Cable Television Networks Rules. It would then be uploaded on a dedicated portal to be created by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, ordered the Apex Court.
The Bench said it was invoking the powers vested to this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for the enforcement of the fundamental right to health that encompassed the right of a consumer to be made aware of the quality of products being offered for sale by manufacturers, service providers, advertisers, and advertising agencies.
The order was passed by the top court of the country in view of the recent hearing in Patanjali’s misleading ads case.
The Bench warned that social media influencers and celebrities would be equally responsible and liable if they were found endorsing products or services in misleading advertisements.
The Apex Court said that once the portal was activated, the advertisers shall start uploading the self-declaration form.
It noted that the proof of uploading the self-declaration shall be made available by the advertisers to the concerned broadcaster, printer, publisher, TV Channel, or electronic media for the records.
The Bench ruled that no advertisements shall be permitted to be run on the relevant channels and/or in the print media/internet without uploading the self-declaration as directed above.
The above directions shall be treated as the law declared by this Court under Article 141 of the Constitution of India, it added.
The Apex Court observed that the existing statutory provisions, rules, regulations and guidelines have a salutary object to serve the consumers and ensure that they were made aware of the kind of product that was being offered for purchase, particularly in the food and health sector.
It ordered the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to set up and promote a mechanism, which encouraged a consumer to lodge a complaint and for the said complaint to be taken to its logical conclusion, instead of simply being marked/forwarded to the concerned State authority, thus leaving the consumer clueless as to the final outcome of the complaint made.
The Bench directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to submit data with regard to the complaints received by the Food, Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI).
The Apex Court further sought details regarding the action taken particularly on the complaints relating to the sale of food not of the nature or substance or quality demanded, sub-standard food, misbranded food, misleading advertisements, and food containing extraneous matter since 2018.
It noted that FSSAI was authorised to take action on its own in the event of any such misleading advertisements coming to its notice, without waiting for any complaint to be received.