The Press Council of India has found two newspapers, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran, guilty of publishing advertisements masquerading as news before the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The decision in the case, along with all the case papers, has been sent to the Election Commission for further action. These newspapers published a one-sided news item in the form of an advertisement in favour of an opposition candidate of the Rashtriya Parivartan Dal. The complaint was filed by the former MLA Yogender Kumar.
The Council in its meeting on March 31 said the format of the item was such that it would appear as a news report to the layman and the word “ADVT” was printed at the lowest end in such a manner that it appeared to accompany a small boxed appeal by the candidate.
