Hyderabad: In a major relief to political parties ahead of elections, Andhra Pradesh High Court today (Mar 23, 2004) struck down a rule under Cable Network Regulation Act that bars political advertisements on electronic media, saying it was discriminatory and violative of right to freedom of trade and business.

The order was passed by Chief Justice Devender Gupta and Justice Rohini based on a petition filed by Gemini Television Network, which challenged the rule 7 (3) of the Cable Network Regulation Act invoked by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Election Commission (EC) to ban telecast of political advertisements.

The court observed that the order amounted to discriminating between the print and electronic media and was also violative of the right to freedom of trade and business, the counsel for the petitioner Ramakanth Reddy said.

The authorities can only impose "reasonable restrictions" under Article 19 (2) of the constitution and can stop telecast of programmes only if they threaten national security or flare up communal violence.

The court observed that the order of I&B and EC did come under the purview of Article 19 (2). It also agreed with the petitioner's argument that the order amounted to discriminating between the print and electronic media.