The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court today issued notices to the Union External Affairs Ministry, Australian Embassy in Delhi, Press Council of India and an editor of national Hindi daily for publishing photographs of models wearing swimsuits with pictures of the Hindu Goddesses on May  6.

 

The photos were related to the Australian Fashion Week conducted in Sydney on Thursday in which model and designer Lisa Burke wore a swimsuit having graffiti of Goddess Lakshmi Devi worshipped by tens of millions of Hindus world over.

 

The court issued notices in response to petitions filed by some lawyers who said that the photographs had hurt the sentiments of millions of Hindus. The court converted the petition into a PIL (Public Interest litigation).

 

The court asked the External Affairs Ministry to take up the issue with the Australian Government and find out as to why such an event was permitted. In the notices issued to the Australian Embassy, the court asked it to explain as to what prompted its government to accord permission to the event in which the Hindu Goddesses were abused and displayed in obscenity.

 

In the notices issued to the Press Council of India, the court asked it to explain the guidelines that govern publication of such photos and the proposed action it intends to take when such guidelines are violated. The court has asked the editor of the Hindi daily the circumstances that warranted the publication of such photos.

All the four respondents have been asked to furnish their replies with in six weeks from the date of receiving the notices.