Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court today issued notices to the Central Government, State Government and the San Francisco-based developer of the famous yet controversial mobile phone game Pokemon Go, Niantic, Inc, on a PIL seeking ban on the game and its formal launch in India alleging it hurts the religious sentiments of of Hindus and Jains.

The division bench comprising chief justice R Subhash Reddy and justice V M Pancholi issued the notices on the PIL filed by petitioner Ajay Dave who sought ban on the game on the grounds that it hurts religious sentiments of Hindus and Jains and also compromises with the general safety of the player. It also says that the location-based augmented reality game also infringes upon the privacy, and it poses threat to life and limbs to the players, who have to walk around to score a point.

The petitioner has contended that the game makes players enter various places of worship – including temples and derasars (jain temple) – to score points. He says that those who succeed are rewarded with eggs. Offering eggs to people in temples and derasars, even in the virtual world, is highly objectionable because the religions propagate non-violence and promote vegetarianism.Eggs are considered as non-vegetarian food and it is blasphemous to carry non-vegetarian food inside a place of worship of Hindus and Jains. He has also sought directions to the Center and the Gujarat government to stop the formal launch of the game in India.

The Court sent emailed notice to the San Fransisco based developer of the game. The matter is likely to come up for hearing next week.

This is the second PIL against Pokemon. A PIL filed earlier had sought ban on the game stating that though it had not been officially launched here, people play on a hacked version. Once the full version is available, the PIL said, one can imagine the chaos.

The controversial game has been banned in Iran over safety concerns. Its developers have been sued in New Jersey, the US, because people playing it often trespass into private property.

DeshGujarat