KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday disposed of the petition praying to prohibit the marketing and sale of Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition241 and Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition 3000, the luxury pens manufactured by Mont Blanc International GmbH on which the name and pictorial representation of Mahatma Gandhi are used.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J Chelameswar and Justice Antony Dominic disposed of the petition after recording the undertaking by Entrack International Private Limited, Rajkot, that they have stopped the distribution and sale of the pen in India and would not resume the same.
In the petition filed by Dijo Kappen, managing trustee, Centre for Consumer Education, it is alleged that the marketing and sale of the pen, which costs `14 lakh each, is in violation of Section 3 of Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.
"Gandhiji is considered the epitome of simplicity. Making him the symbol of a `14 lakh pen is nothing but an attempt to degrade everything that Gandhiji symbolised," the petitioner alleged.