Published on : 25 Sep 2025, 12:17 pm 3 min read

The Kerala High Court on Thursday flagged some serious shortcomings in the public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed against the cover image of Arundhati Roy's latest book ' Mother Mary Comes to Me ' [ Rajasimhan v Union of India ].

The petitioner had objected to the cover image of Roy smoking a cigarette , and argued that it glorified tobacco as a symbol of intellectual and creative expression. His plea highlighted that the image was not accompanied by any health warning about the ill effects of smoking tobacco.

A Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji , however, noted today that the petitioner had failed to disclose the fact that the publisher had included a disclaimer about smoking on the

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