SC: Do Mont Blanc and Mahatma go together?

Can Mahatma Gandhi be the poster boy for driving home the message that a super-expensive Mont Blanc “pen is mightier than the sword?” To this question of a PIL petitioner, the Supreme Court on Monday sought responses of the Centre and the retail outlet of the pen-maker in Delhi.

Though a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices A K Ganguly and B S Chauhan had some reservations in entertaining the PIL filed by Harsh Vardhan Surna and Sandeep Singh, it issued notices to the Centre and Mont Blanc Boutique after they pointed out that use of Mahatma Gandhi’s pictures was in violation of Emblem Act.

However, the Bench declined to issue notice to Mahatma Gandhi Foundation. The petitioners had alleged that Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of the Father of the Nation, had accepted a cheque of Rs 70-75 lakh to lend the name of the organisation to the pen brand.

“The foundation will further receive between $200 and $1,000 for each pen sold. The maker of Mont Blanc is offering the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Pens’ at an unbelievable price of approximately Rs 12 lakh per pen. Mahatma Gandhi’s images are being displayed in hoardings conveying messages that the pen is mightier than the sword,” the petitioners said.

Associating Mahatma Gandhi’s name with the expensive pen rebelled against the values and ideals in which the Father of the Nation believed in, the petitioners said. When this blatant commercial use of Mahtama Gandhi’s name and pictures in violation of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, was taking place, “the government, the ruling political party and the Opposition are silent,” they said.

All That Glitters

‘Mont Blanc’s Limited Edition 241’ marks the 241 miles that the Mahatma Gandhi covered during the Dandi March in 1930

241 such pens on offer, with gold wire entwined, to signify the yarn Gandhi spun on a charkha

Rhodium plated 18-carat gold nib depicts Gandhiji holding a lathi, all in gold
Source:- The Times of India 8th December 2009 Page No:- 15 Delhi

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