Dr Miah Belayet Hossain, assistant director (Disease Control) of the directorate filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.

After hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate AJM Abdullahel Baqui recorded statement of the complainant and directed the accused to appear before it on October3.

The accused are Golam Moin Uddin, DMD of British-American Tobacco, Bangladesh and Financial Express Editor Moazzem Hossain.

In his complaint, Belayet Hossain said that the government had passed an anti-smoking law on March 13 this year. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare declared the law effective from March 26 through a gazette notification as per sub-clause 1(2) of the bill.

The law also prohibits advertisements of tobacco products in movie houses and on government and private TV channels, sale of movies or videotapes containing advertisements of tobacco products, publication of ads in books, magazines, leaflets, handbills, billboards and newspapers.

But the accused in collusion with each other published an advertisement on smoking in The Financial Express on August 21, which was the gross violation of the Anti-Smoking Law, the complainant added.