SC Rejects Plea: Arundhati Roy Memoir Cover Won't Promote Smoking

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition accusing author Arundhati Roy and her publisher Penguin Random House India (Hamish Hamilton) of glamorising tobacco use by featuring a photograph of her with a beedi on the front cover of her book Mother Mary Comes to Me. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, explained that the cover does not promote smoking and that tobacco-control rules regulate advertisements rather than artistic depictions within literary works. The court noted that a disclaimer on the cover helps clarify there is no endorsement of tobacco use and that neither the author nor the publisher sought to advertise smoking. The decision aligns with recognizing literary creativity and the book’s cover as part of artistic expression rather than an advertising tool. The case had reached the Supreme Court after a Kerala High Court decision on October 13 had refused a similar challenge. The petitioner contended that the image could influence readers and potentially violate COTPA, but the court held that the issue was not one of public promotion but of a creative product protected under free expression. This ruling reinforces the distinction between tobacco advertising and imagery used within literary works, signaling that readers are unlikely to view the cover as a promotional act. The kerala high court’s earlier stance remains intact, effectively closing the matter at the highest judicial level.

Cover image source: ‘Not a promotion of smoking’: SC junks plea against Arundhati Roy book cover 🔗

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