Kerala High Court Dismisses PIL Against Arundhati Roy’s Book Cover Showing Her Smoking

The Kerala High Court dismissed a PIL challenging the cover of Arundhati Roy’s book "Mother Mary Comes to Me," which shows her smoking a cigarette without a health warning.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji noted that the publisher had included a disclaimer on the back of the book, which the petitioner failed to disclose.

The Court held it wasn’t the proper forum to decide such issues, which fall under expert bodies under the COTPA Act, 2003.

The Court also questioned whether the PIL was filed in the public interest or for publicity. 

[Rajasimhan v Union of India]