Big B cleared in tobacco ad case

A local court clears the actor in a case of an alleged violation of Goa's law against smoking after a poster showed him puffing a cigar.

In a relief for superstar Amitabh Bachchan, a local court has cleared him in a case of an alleged violation of Goa's law against smoking after a poster showed him puffing a cigar.

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National Tobacco Eradication Organisation (NOTE), an anti-tobacco organisation, had filed a suit against Bachchan along with others objecting to his poster on the hoarding which showed him smoking a cigar and accusing him of violating Goa Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting Act, 1997.

District and Sessions Judge UV Bakre nullified the legal process against Bachchan initiated by judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) in the case.

NOTE had accused the actor of indirectly suggesting and promoting smoking on a multi-coloured billboard advertisement that depicted him puffing a cigar while endorsing a brand of electric appliances.

The board was prominently displayed on Goa's national highway. NOTE had asked the court to prosecute Bachchan for violations the Goa Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting Act.

Bachchan's lawyer had in a revision petition filed before sessions court said the criminal case was registered despite the actor conveying in writing that he was not a party to the hoarding.