On 20-7-2023, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Chairperson, Press Council of India took suo motu cognizance against Dainik Bhaskar, Delhi Edition for publishing misleading, obscene and vulgar advertisements.
Dainik Bhaskar in its various issues violated the following norms and provisions:
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Norms of Journalistic Conduct Edition, 2022 relating to Advertisements
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Norm 2 (iv) says that it is the duty of the Newspaper to collect news and place it in the Newspaper, but it should not create news.
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Norm 2 (v) says that whenever any news is published on the basis of an FIR and is critical of the reputation of any person or body, the newspaper/journals must clearly state in the same news report that the report was only on the basis of the FIR and that veracity of the version of the FIR has got to be decided by the Court. The newspaper should also publish a version of the affected party.
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Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954
Section 3 relating to Prohibition of advertisement of certain drugs for treatment of certain diseases and disorders prohibits publishing any advertisement referring to certain kinds of drugs.