For promoting a tobacco brand, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn have been served legal notices and asked to show cause. The hearing for the case will happen on May 9, 2024.
There have been a lot of hullaballoos on social media around how big celebs usually come forward and endorse brands that shouldn’t ideally be promoted. One of the very infamous endorsements is that of a commercial which features not 1, not 2, but 3 of the biggest superstars of the country. Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn have been part of promoting a brand which allegedly had tobacco. Now, the three have been served notices by the court.
As per a report of India Today, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey has informed the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court that the three superstars have been served legal notices by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). The reason mentioned in the report is the endorsement of tobacco companies.
A petition was filed by Advocate Motilal Yadav which went on to question the involvement of such popular celebrities, especially the ones who’re conferred with Padma awards, in television and print commercials promoting brands which are considered harmful for the health of people in general. This issue has been running on social media for a long time, and fans of all three celebs in question have requested them to stop promoting these brands. While Akshay Kumar has promised to not endorse the brand after the expiration of the contract, there has been no such commitment from the other two stars.
Now, the court has gone ahead and allegedly issued legal notices to the Cabinet Secretary, Chief Commissioner and Central Consumer Protection Authority. This was done in accordance with a plea seeking contempt action for non-compliance of an order passed by the court in September 2022. The court had then asked the petitioner to approach the Government Of India.
A show cause notice has been issued to Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn by the Deputy Solicitor General. This was informed to the bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan. It was also reported in the same that Amitabh Bachchan too had sent a legal notice to the tobacco company for having shown him in an advertisement even after he had cancelled his association with the brand and quashed his contract.
The court has fixed the next hearing of the case on May 9, 2024. Will the actors have to come to the court in person? Or will their representatives be allowed to respond to the notice? Well, only time will tell.