New England Brewing Company has apologized for using a picture of late Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi on its Gandhi-Bot beer cans.
The move comes after a lawyer filed a petition in a court in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, alleging that carrying Gandhi's image on alcohol cans was punishable under Indian laws, reports BBC.
The Gandhi-Bot carries a label featuring a cartoon image depicting a robot version of Gandhi, who abhorred drinking.
New England Brewing head brewer and partner Matt Westfall was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying: "We do apologise if the good people of India find our Gandhi-Bot label offensive. Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a great man who we respect greatly.
Westfall said he hoped the product inspired people "to learn more about Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent methods of civil disobedience. So many Indian people here in American love our tribute to the great man."
Meanwhile, Australian brewer Brookvale Union is continuing to use images of Hindu deities Ganesh and Lakshmi on its beer bottle, despite promising to re-design their bottles and packaging and removing the objectionable images from the website in 2013.
Rajan Zed, who is a president of Universal Society of Hinduism in the US state of Nevada, earlier said that using juxtaposed images of Hindu deities on a beer bottle is highly inappropriate.
Zed urged Brookvale Union to immediately remove the Ganesh-Lakshmi images from the beer label, packaging and website; recall all the beer with Ganesh-Lakshmi images from the market; and re-apologize.
