New Delhi: Shahrukh Khan should better put out that cigarette fast. The chain-smoking actor is facing a legal battle now for lighting it in public on the dais at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit and in the VIP stands during the India-Australia T-20 match in Mumbai.

“We first saw him at HT Summit. When we started enquiring about it and we saw him again during Twenty-20 match between India-Australia smoking in the stadium. It was then we decided to take action against him,” says General Secretary, National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), Dr Shekhar Salkar.

The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication says Shah Rukh should explain his stand in 15 days. The NGO says he violated the provisions of the Cigarette %26 Other Tobacco Products Act that prohibits smoking in public places.

“We have sent him a legal notice seeking explanation about his act. And its not just about law or act, its about decency. A respected person like him should not have behaved like that in a public place,” says Salkar.

The National Organization for Tobacco Eradication had earlier filed a case against superstar Amitabh Bachchan after he was depicted smoking in an advertisement of electrical appliances. That case is still on in the court.

(With inputs from Pramod Acharya in Panaji)