New Delhi, July 5 (PTI): The Supreme Court today directed the continuance of its interim order banning surrogate political advertisements on TV channels and electronic media.

The directive has come at a time when the Election Commission has expressed apprehension of a war of words between political parties in view of coming Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh this year.

A bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice A.K. Mathur extended the April 13 interim directive till further orders. It also transferred to the apex court a petition filed by Gemini TV in Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had allowed surrogate advertisements.

Earlier, the counsel for the Election Commission had submitted before the bench that the order needed to be continued as the Assembly elections were due in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh in October. Two more states — Bihar and Jharkhand — will go to elections in February next year.

On April 13, the court had ordered that no political advertisements could be telecast without prior clearance from the poll panel, which was made the sole authority to judge “cleanness” of such advertisements.

The court had also made it mandatory for all advertisers to state on affidavit whether the insertion was funded by political parties.