Newspapers Not Responsible For Advertisers' Claims: Court

Newspapers and periodicals cannot be held responsible if there is a defect in a consumer product whose advertisements are printed in their pages, the Delhi High court has held. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog set aside a trial court order that had directed newspapers to issue a disclaimer saying that 'qualities of products advertised in their dailies are not guaranteed by the newspaper'. 'We set aside the impugned judgment directing the appellant (newspaper organisations) to issue a caution along with each advertisement stating that features or qualities are not guaranteed by the newspaper,' the court said last week. The case pertains to Rajan Verma who had purchased a Nokia mobile phone that turned out to be defective. He approached a trial court seeking a compensation of Rs.327,000 after the company failed to rectify the fault. He also sought direction to the newspapers publishing Nokia products' advertisements as they were allegedly promoting false and misleading claims of the manufacturer. The trial court, after hearing his contention, had directed the company to pay Rs.127,000 to the complainant and also directed the newspapers to issue a caution along with advertisements. Media organisations then approached the high court, which has now struck down the trial court's direction.

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