In a significant development, the Madras High Court on July 31, 2025, issued an interim order restricting the Tamil Nadu government from using the name or photograph of any living political personality, former Chief Ministers, ideological leaders, or party emblems in the promotion of its welfare schemes. The Division Bench, led by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan, passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Member of Parliament C. Ve. Shanmugam.
Senior Advocate Vijay Narayan, representing the petitioner, argued that the state was launching public welfare schemes using not just the name of the current Chief Minister but also the photographs of ideological leaders and former Chief Ministers belonging to the ruling party. The petitioner further pointed out that even the party’s logos and emblems were being printed on government outreach materials, which is a clear violation of Supreme Court judgments and the 2014 Government Advertisement (Content Regulation) Guidelines framed by the Election Commission.
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It was also submitted that another scheme featuring similar politically symbolic visuals was about to be launched, prompting the plea for an immediate interim injunction to stop such publications.
Opposing the petition, Advocate General P.S. Raman argued that the claims were based on unverified printouts that were not official government publications. He requested time to file an affidavit with authenticated documents, stating that no such images or political symbols were used by the government in the scheme promotions.
Senior Counsel P. Wilson, representing the ruling party (Respondent No. 4), argued that the petition was politically motivated, as the petitioner is an opposition MP allegedly trying to tarnish the image of ruling party leaders.
Advocate Niranjan Rajagopalan, appearing for the Election Commission of India, informed the court that any party or government must comply with the Supreme Court’s guidelines and directives issued by the Commission while launching and advertising welfare schemes. He specifically referred to the Commission’s circular dated October 7, 2016.
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After hearing the arguments, the court observed that the petitioner’s concerns appeared valid at first glance. The Bench referred to key judgments by the Supreme Court in Common Cause v. Union of India (2014 & 2015) and Centre for Public Interest Litigation v. Kewal Kumar Sharma (2017), which laid down principles regulating content in government advertisements.
The court highlighted that although the Supreme Court in State of Karnataka v. Common Cause (2016) permitted the use of a current Chief Minister's photograph under limited exceptions, using photographs of ideological leaders, former Chief Ministers, or the names and symbols of political parties would still violate the apex court’s guidelines.
"It is not permissible to include the name of any living political personality in the title of a welfare scheme," the Bench stated. "Similarly, including photos of past leaders or party symbols in such schemes is, prima facie, against Supreme Court directives."
Accordingly, the High Court directed that while launching and operating any welfare schemes, the name of any living person, photos of former Chief Ministers or ideological leaders, and the use of party insignia or logos shall not be included.
However, the court clarified that this order does not prevent the government from implementing or launching welfare schemes. It also stated that the petition's pendency would not stop the Election Commission or other authorities from acting on any complaint made by the petitioner.
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The matter is now scheduled to be heard along with the main writ petition on August 13, 2025.
Case Title: C. Ve Shanmugam v The Chief Election Commissioner
Case No: WMP No.30663 of 2025 in WP No.27277 of 2025