Can the associations involved and the advertisers take legal recourse?
Most stakeholders feel that the notification is hypocritical. On the one hand, the government allows the products to be manufactured. On the other, it denies the manufacturers the right to propagate knowledge of their products in order to drive sales. According to Goel, the IBF has sought a meeting with the I&B ministry to sort out the issues. If that does not show any results, then we will go up to the Prime Minister. The court will be the last resort, says Goel. The meeting, which was expected to have taken place in the first week of April, is yet to happen. When we got in touch with the I&B ministry last week, they stood their ground about banning surrogate ads completely, adds Goel. A senior lawyer, practising in the Delhi high court, has this to say. The law states that it is a breach of the Constitution the right to business of any entity. There is, in fact, no legislation controlling surrogate ads. It will also be an infringement on the trademark laws. Once a trademark is issued
