Bengaluru, Sept. 26 -- Publisher Penguin Random House India on Thursday mounted a defence of the cover of Arundhati Roy's new book "Mother Mary Comes To Me" before the Kerala high court, stating that the back cover carried a disclaimer stating that the photographic depiction of the author smoking a "beedi" was only "for representation purposes" and that the company did not endorse the use of tobacco.

The publisher further contended that the public interest litigation (PIL) taking issue with the book cover, which was admitted before the court on September 18, was filed without proper research. The petitioner, an advocate named Rajasimhan, admitted to the court that he filed the petition upon coming across the book cover on display at a bo...