Actors Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan were served notices for smoking in public in the smoking-free city of Chandigarh.

Both actors have been served five penalty notices for smoking at public places in the last three days in Chandigarh and in neighboring Punjab. The first one to hit the list was Ajay Devgan who lit a cigarette at the airport on reaching Chandigarh Monday, and was immediately caught on camera by a photojournalist.
The police issued a notice to him Wednesday after receiving a complaint from a non-government organization Tuesday. After keeping the Chandigarh police officials waiting for hours Wednesday and Thursday, Devgan went to the house of a sub-divisional magistrate here late Friday evening to pay the fine of Rs.200.

Besides, both the stars were also slapped with two fines each Wednesday and Thursday at Kurali in Mohali, around 35 km from here, for allegedly smoking at a railway station there.
Hemant Goswami, chairperson, Burning Brain Society, told IANS Saturday, “First we filed a complaint against Ajay Devgan when we saw photographs of him smoking at the Chandigarh airport in the newspaper. In the same complaint we asked for action against some police officers, Para-Military staff, private security staff, airline and airport authority staff, fellow actors and member of the film crew including Salman Khan for not informing the police of this violation by Ajay Devgan to the nearest magistrate or the police officer. Now we have come to know that with Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan too smoked in Public at Kurali Railway Station. So we have sent another complaint to the GRP (In charge) of the Kurali Railway Station against Salman as well as Ajay Devgan.”

“Both the actors have violated the provisions of section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003. We have also written to the Indian railways to cancel the permission to shoot on the railway premises as the crew members have violated the section 167 of the Railways Act 1989,” he added.

“According to section 278 of IPC any act which makes atmosphere noxious to health is a punishable offence. Not just that, there is a clear provision in the section 4 of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act 2003 (COTPA), which says that no person shall smoke in any public place. We have come to know from sources that both Salman and Ajay smoked in full public view,” he said.

Salman and Devgan came to Chandigarh on Monday for the shooting of a Bollywood film.
Chandigarh became the first smoke-free city of India July 15, 2007 while a ban on smoking in public places was imposed all across the country on Oct 2, 2008.