The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Centre on a petition accusing the government of wasting taxpayers' money on advertisements praising political leaders.
The court has also sent notices to the railways and communications ministries, the states of Punjab and Karnataka, among others.
The petitioner has requested the court to direct the respondents to give details of the money spent on such advertisements.
The petitioner also said these amounts should be recovered from authorities who inserted the advertisements in newspapers.