The Karnataka High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation filed by Belle Ravivarma against the Union government for carrying photographs of UPA president Sonia Gandhi in its advertisements.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice PD Dinakaran and Justice SR Bannurmath dismissed the PIL, observing: “There is no virtue in criticising the leadership of an individual as political sycophancy. There is no sin in acknowledging the leadership of a political or national leader.”

The bench added, “If there is an objection to crores of rupees  spent on advertisements, the court can interfere. But the court is concerned only about public interest and not private political interests.”

The court added, “Sonia Gandhi is a national leader and is liked by millions. As the head of the UPA, her photographs were carried in the advertisements. We don’t find any merit in the petition and are dismissing it.”

The petitioner’s counsel, Ravivarma Kumar, stated that the Union government is wasting public money to popularise and boost the political prospects of the UPA head, Sonia Gandhi.

The petitioner added that the government has violated all types of protocol by not displaying photographs of the President and the Vice-President  and was instead promoting only Sonia.

Srikanth Hunasavadi/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication