CBI books two Nagpur residents for using Modi’s pic on letterhead

The CBI said that the pictures had been used without the mandatory permission of the central government as required under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked two Nagpur residents for allegedly using photographs of PM Narendra Modi and national icons Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore on their social organisation’s letterheads. The CBI said that the pictures had been used without the mandatory permission of the central government as required under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.

CBI books two Nagpur residents for using Modi’s pic on letterhead

The investigative agency registered the case against the two accused, Idul Asi and Shrikant Shriwas, on December 18, based on a January 9, 2025 complaint by A K Sharma, assistant director in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Based on the findings of the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) it conducted, the case was registered.

The PMO complaint said that in April 2024 it received a Right To Information query from an individual, seeking information on an organisation named ‘Bharat Pratikarth Seva Sangh’ which had a photograph of the PM on its letterhead. The PMO complaint sought a CBI probe, as it appeared to be a case of misuse of the PM’s picture, CBI officials said.

The CBI lodged an FIR under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, pertaining to forgery, using as genuine a forged document and prohibition of improper use of certain emblems and names. The alleged activities of the accused took place from 2021 to 2023, according to the CBI.

The PE probe revealed that a letter was issued on the organisation’s letterhead bearing the photographs of Modi, Tagore and Gandhi, and was allegedly addressed to a man who was the then trustee of a charitable trust located in Uttar Pradesh. The letter said that the man was being appointed the ‘Awadh Prant Pramukh’ of the accused duo’s organisation which was registered in 2021 under the Societies Registration Act.

“The PE revealed that the Bharat Pratikarth Sewa Sangh was carrying the photographs without the permission of the central government, which is in violation of Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, punishable under Section 5 of the said act,” a CBI official said. During the probe, two more such letters, dated July 10, 2021, and September 12, 2022 were also traced by the CBI.

“During the enquiry, material facts and documents came on record which prima facie disclose a commission of offences by the two accused persons,” the official said.