NEW DELHI, April 14 (UPI) -- India's supreme court has ruled all political advertisements must be approved by the Elections Commission before they are aired.
The ruling comes as the world's largest democracy gets ready for general elections later in coming weeks, with more than 600 million eligible to vote.
The ruling appeared to affect only advertisements in the electronic media. They must by approved by the election commission or the chief electoral officers in the respective states before they are shown to the voters, the Indian Express reported.
Working with the election commission, the court has framed a set of guidelines to stop "offensive and slanderous" surrogate advertisements during the election campaign, the report said.
The commission will seize the equipment of any TV channel or cable TV network if it broadcasts ads that do not conform with the guidelines or which have not been cleared.
Elections will begin April 20 and run through May 10.
