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A notice has been issued to the centre by the division bench of Rajasthan High Court constituting Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Dinesh Chandra Somani, on a petition challenging the order of ministry of information and broadcasting banning television ads for condoms during prime time hours (6-10). The petition is filed by a NGO, Global Alliance for Human Rights, who is working for the welfare of HIV +ve patients since 2012.
It said that, the advisory which asserts the ads to be indecent especially for the children is a violation of Article 14 and Article 19(1) (a) of Constitution of India. As the time specified for these advertisements is from 10 pm to 6 am, with no specific reason, and same has neglected the present situation, as people in rural areas are still not aware, and the use of condoms remains low.
Advocate Divesh Sharma highlighted that it is mentioned in rule 7 of Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 that it prohibits an advertisement which “endangers the safety of children or creates in them any interest in unhealthy practices or shows them begging or in an undignified or indecent manner”
It was further mentioned that spreading the information on condoms is not at all unhealthy but banning these advertisements will “will cause hindrance to the awareness programmes launched by various NGOs and governmental organizations for having safe sex amongst HIV infected people”.
Relying on National Family Health Survey 2015-16, it is submitted that there is still lack of awareness among people regarding usage of condoms to avoid unwanted pregnancies and HIV-AIDS.
It was said that: “when a young boy or girl enters in teens, needs to learn all aspects about physiological and emotional changes that he or she will be going through while growing up. This information and awareness is absolutely essential for that young individual, in order to ensure that they can make informed choices as one goes through the teen years. It is due to this woeful lack of information and awareness that children go through traumatic experiences that range from sexual abuse to emotional and physical abuse, without knowing the implications of these or what recourse to take and this leads to the victim being emotionally and sometimes, physically, scarred for life.
Therefore, it’s the responsibility of society and the government to ensure that every boy and girl is provided with the necessary information and is taught all the preventive and corrective measures to be taken in case of any eventuality. In such circumstances when the action of the respondent is arbitrary and meaningless.”
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