The Kerala High Court recently dealt with a public interest litigation questioning the legality of the cover of Arundhati Roy’s book Mother Mary Comes to Me, which features the author smoking a bidi. The petitioner contended that the depiction amounted to a violation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2013 (COTPA).

According to the petition, the absence of a statutory health warning on the cover placed the book in breach of the law, as the image effectively functioned as an advertisement, either direct or indirect, for a tobacco product. It was argued that the statutory mandate under Section 5 of COTPA prohibits any form of advertising for cigarettes and other tobacco products, including indirect suggestions or promotion through publications or visual media.

By presenting a popular literary figure smoking on the cover of a widely circulated book, the petitioner alleged that the publisher and the author had promoted tobacco use in contravention of the law.

A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji heard the matter and raised preliminary queries regarding the petition. The bench asked the petitioner whether the relevant rules under the Act, particularly those addressing indirect advertising, had been produced before the Court.

It also enquired whether any formal representation had been made to the competent authority responsible for monitoring and implementing tobacco control regulations. The Court pointed out that approaching the statutory authority may have been the proper initial step before invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of the High Court. Nonetheless, the bench issued notice to the Union Government to obtain its views on the complaint and adjourned the proceedings.

The Court did not pass any interim orders restraining the sale or distribution of the book at this stage, but its questions indicated a concern with both procedural propriety and the scope of COTPA in relation to artistic or literary expression. The case raises broader issues of how statutory restrictions on tobacco advertising interact with freedom of expression, particularly when the alleged violation appears on a book cover rather than in conventional media. The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 25, 2025.

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