Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes To Me: Kerala High Court Dismisses PIL Seeking Ban on Book

The Kerala HC ruled that determining a violation is the responsibility of the Act's designated expert committee, not the court. It noted the petitioner failed to approach this authority and was unaware the book already contained a disclaimer.

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday, October 13 dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against author Arundhati Roy’s book Mother Mary Comes To Me, which features a photograph of the author smoking on its cover. The petitioner had demanded that the book should be withdrawn from sale until it carried the statutory health warning label. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji delivered the verdict in open court, observing that determining whether there was a violation of Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA) required factual examination and statutory interpretation. The judges stated that such issues fall under the purview of the expert body established by the Act, the Steering Committee, which has the authority to act on its own or consider complaints from individuals.

HC Slams Petitioner

The bench further noted that the petitioner was informed about this alternative remedy but chose not to approach the appropriate authority. Instead, he filed a PIL “without examining the relevant legal position or verifying necessary materials, including the presence of a disclaimer on the book.” The Court emphasized that Public Interest Litigations should not be misused for “self-publicity or personal vendetta” and dismissed the plea accordingly. In an earlier hearing, the Court had also pointed out to the petitioner that he could bring his concerns before the COTPA Steering Committee rather than invoking the High Court’s jurisdiction. 

During the proceedings, the publisher, Penguin Random House India, informed the Court that the book carried a disclaimer on its back cover stating: “Any depiction of smoking in this book is for representational purposes only. Penguin Random House India does not promote or endorse tobacco use.” When asked about this, the petitioner admitted he had not gone through the entire book and was objecting solely to the image on the cover.