RAIPUR: A division bench of the Chhattisgarh High Court on Saturday issued notices to the state government and Centre on a PIL seeking intervention against the “improper use” of Gandhian logo — pictorial illustration of Gandhi’s spectacles with ‘Swachh Bharat’ — on dust-bins, public toilets and trash cans across the country. The court sought the responses before February 20 next year.
The division bench of Chief Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay Agrawal also asked the Chhattisgarh chief minister to take cognisance of the matter.
The PIL was filed by former Chhattisgarh minister Badruddin Qureshi. “Gandhiji is the father of the nation. How could anyone think of depicting his belongings (specs) or image near toilets? This is absolutely unacceptable. I have requested the court to intervene and prevent the practice,” Qureshi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while launching his nation-wide cleanliness campaign on October 2, 2014, said, “Swachh Bharat logo is not just a logo; through it, Gandhiji is watching us and so we all should clean India”.
Since then, the pictorial depiction of Gandhiji’s spectacles with ‘Swachh Bharat’ written near it has been used. At several places, sketches of Gandhiji have also been illustrated at the community toilets and on trash cans.