Terming it a publicity litigation, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the sale, circulation and display of Arundhati Roy’s book, 'Mother Mary Comes to Me' that depicted her smoking a bidi/cigarette on its cover, in contravention of the law.

“This is not an advertisement. You may disagree with the views of the author but that does not mean such a case can lie," a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, dismissing Rajasimhan’s appeal against the Kerala High court order rejecting his PIL. It cautioned him against filing such petitions just for publicity.

The Bench noted that her literary work did not constitute any violation of Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulati

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