Mumbai: Use of Mahatma Gandhi's name and picture by Swiss luxury giant Mont Blanc for a Rs 14 lakh pen has stirred a controversy amid reports that a Foundation run by his great-grandson Tushar Gandhi had allowed the commercial use of the images.
Tushar Gandhi, who also launched the limited edition 'Gandhi' on September 29, however, rejected suggestions he had disregarded a national legislation which bars the use of the Mahatma Gandhi's name or pictorial representation for commercial purposes.
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"So what? I am not bothered by what people have to say," said Gandhi, who expressed surprise at those opposing the venture. He said the Mahatma's image has been used in advertising for long amid reports that the Swiss giant made a donation to his Foundation.
Two days after the launch, the Kerala High Court admitted a public interest litigation challenging the marketing of the luxury pens in India while issuing notices to Mont Blanc International, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs and others.
The petitioner, Dijo Kapen of the Centre of Consumer Education, Kottayam, contended that the attempt to manufacture and market luxury pens in the name of the Mahatma was wrong, illegal and liable to be prohibited.
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He submitted that entry 9A of the schedule of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, states that the name or pictorial representation of Gandhi as an item cannot be used for the purpose of any trade or business under provision of the Act.
Kapen contended that making Gandhi the symbol of a Rs14 lakh pen was nothing but an attempt to cause degeneration of everything that he symbolised and mock at the middle class and those below the poverty line who look up to him.
