Dismissing a petition that sought a direction to authorities concerned to take appropriate action against celebrities who endorsed online games in advertisements, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday observed that the petition was a waste of time and nothing but an attempt by the petitioner to gain publicity.
The court was hearing the petition filed by I. Mohammed Razvi of Madurai. In his petition filed in 2020, he sought a direction to take action against cricketer Virat Kohli, former cricketer Sourav Ganguly and actors Prakash Raj, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rana Daggubati and Sudeep who had endorsed online games in advertisements.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M. Duraiswamy observed that the petition was fuelled by the petitioner’s ambition to propel himself to stardom by questioning the participation of prominent personalities in certain advertisements.
As per the petitioner’s personal sense of morality, certain online activities, including games, should not be continued and the association of the celebrities with such advertisements was detrimental, the court observed.
It would be open to the petitioner to approach the appropriate authorities to take steps to prohibit online games or such activities, the judges said.
