Responding to a contempt petition, the Central Government informed the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad Court.
That it has booked actors Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan and Ajay Devgn for their involvement in gutkha companies. Notice has been issued regarding the advertisements made.
The Centre’s counsel informed the High Court on Friday that the Supreme Court is also hearing the same issue and in such a situation the petition should be dismissed immediately. After hearing the arguments, the bench fixed the hearing for May 9, 2024.
A bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan had earlier directed the Central government to decide on the representation of the petitioner, who had basically argued that action should be taken against actors and dignitaries who were given high profile awards but Were advertising for Gutkha companies.
However, the petitioner said during the hearing that on October 22, people presented their views before the government on behalf of these actors but no action was taken in the matter.
After this, while hearing the contempt petition, the High Court had issued a notice to the Cabinet Secretary of the Central Government. On Friday, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey told the High Court that the Center has issued show cause notices to Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan and Ajay Devgan.
The court was also told that Amitabh Bachchan had sent a legal notice to a gutkha company which was showing his advertisement despite the fact that he had already canceled his contract with it.