The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a ban on Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy's latest book, 'Mother Mary Come to Me', with a cover image of the author smoking. The High Court dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), noting it should not be used for personal publicity or slander.
Hearing the matter on Monday, A division bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji dismissed the PIL moved by Kochi-based lawyer Rajsimhan seeking to prohibit the sale of the book. The petitioner argued that the book's cover photo, an image showing the author smoking, "glorified" the act of smoking and it sends out a "damaging message" to society.
The petitioner also argued that the image violated statutory norms, and the image was carried sans any health