NGO protests Shah Rukh smoking during IPL

Puffing away on a cigarette to absorb the tension of the Indian Premier League has put Bollywood super star and owner of Kolkata Knight Riders team Shah Rukh Khan in a spot with the anti-smoking lobby.

The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), on Saturday protested against the filmstar who was shown on television smoking during an IPL match against Kings XI Punjab in Durban, on April 21.

NOTE has asked the South African National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) to consider the issue seriously and ban smoking in the stadium during IPL matches.

"I chatted with them and sent details and to Supersport, who are the broadcasters. I am soliciting an agreement that they will not show anyone smoking," Peter Ucko from NCAS informed NOTE.

NOTE General Secretary Shekhar Salkar said they had contacted NCAS to explore possibilities to prevent such incidents in the future.

The NCAS in their reply has said that the Act which will ban smoking in sport stadium is not yet in force in South Africa, but smoking is not permitted in certain enclosures.

NOTE said that in the absence of a law, a request has been made to Khan to quit smoking for his own well being.