The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking to prohibit the sale, circulation, and display of Arundhati Roy’s book, 'Mother Mary Comes to Me', whose cover depicted the author smoking a bidi or a cigarette, allegedly contravening anti-tobacco laws.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi dismissed the appeal filed by one Rajasimhan against a Kerala High Court order that had rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the same issue.
Chief Justice Surya Kant made it clear the court saw no violation: “She is a renowned author. She has not promoted such a thing. There is a warning in the book, and she is a prominent person as well. Why do such a thing for publicity? There is no hoarding in the city with the picture of the book. It is for someone who will take the book and read it. Her picture with it does not portray any such thing,” the CJI observed.
The bench ruled that the author and the publisher, Penguin Hamish Hamilton, had not violated Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.
This provision strictly prohibits the advertisement, promotion, and sponsorship of tobacco products, banning direct and surrogate ads, and any activity suggesting tobacco use, though it allows health warnings on packages and specific retail point displays.
“We see no reason to interfere with the impugned High Court order,” the Chief Justice of India concluded.
The counsel for the petitioner had argued, "We don't know it's a 'ganja beedi' or a 'normal beedi'. She is herself shown smoking it." He added that the book carried only a very small disclaimer, not the prominent warning required by law.
The CJI countered: "Book, publisher or author has nothing to do with advertising for cigarettes etc. This is not an advertisement. You may disagree with the views of the author... but that does not mean such a case can lie."
The book in question is a memoir authored by Roy.
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