Sambhavi Gautam
If you’ve ever picked up a book by Arundhati Roy—a Booker Prize–winning author and one of India’s most influential literary voices—you probably expect bold ideas. But you may not expect a court case over her photo on the cover. Yet that’s exactly what happened, and the story says more about us as a society than it does about her.
Also Read: Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me: A Memoir That Writes the Woman Who Refused to Belong
When Arundhati Roy’s Book Cover Becomes a Legal Battle
In December 2025, India witnessed a peculiar controversy unfold: a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought a ban on the sale and circulation of Arundhati Roy’s new book, Mother Mary Comes to Me, because the author is seen holding a cigarette on the cover. The petitioner argued that this violated Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), claiming the image would mislead “impressionable youth, particularly teenage girls and women,” by making smoking appear fashionable.
The Law That Was Never Meant for Literature
But here’s the part that might make you pause: the Kerala High Court had already thrown out the plea back in October. Still, the petitioner pushed it all the way to the Supreme Court. And once the case reached there, Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi didn’t need long to call out the overreaction.
What the Supreme Court Made Clear
They pointed out something obvious yet important: “Her literary work does not constitute any violation. We see no reason to interfere. It isn’t an advertisement; it isn’t even aimed at a general audience.” And they didn’t stop there. Responding to the claim that the cover glamorises smoking, the Court added: “She is a renowned author. She has not promoted such a thing, This is not an advertisement.” The Court also cautioned the petitioner for using litigation to gain publicity, emphasising that neither the author nor the publisher had any association with cigarette promotion.
What could have been just a book release turned into a cultural touchpoint—especially for women who have watched society repeatedly police their choices, bodies, and images. A woman writing boldly? Acceptable. A woman smoking on her own book cover? Suddenly, it is seen as misleading the youth.
Policing Women’s Choices, One Image at a Time
It says a lot about how uncomfortable society still feels when women push boundaries that even the publishing house had to step in to explain what should have been obvious. Penguin Random House India clarified the basics: COTPA, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act . ‘It regulates tobacco advertising, promotion, and packaging, not creative works like book covers.’ They even added a disclaimer inside the book stating that the image does not endorse smoking.
Why This Case Was Never Really About Smoking
But the petitioner wasn’t really interested in the facts, and you can see that in how far he pushed the case. He skipped key details, ignored the statutory committee meant to handle complaints like this, and kept dragging the matter out. It’s why the Kerala High Court didn’t hold back in calling the plea “filed only to garner self-publicity and cast aspersions on Arundhati Roy’s character.”
Moments like this remind you of something many women already understand. When a woman expresses herself through art—through her words or even her image—the reaction is often judgment instead of understanding. Her creativity becomes a controversy long before it is seen for what it truly is. This case was never about a cigarette on a book cover. It was about how easily a woman’s choices are turned into a public debate, and how quickly others try to control how she should be seen.
So ask yourself one thing as you finish reading this: Why is a woman’s art still questioned before it is allowed to simply exist?
