The high court in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, asked the Hamburg, Germany-based company to suspend sales of its limited-edition pen costing 1.4 million rupees ($30,200), the Times of India newspaper said.

The judges ruled in favor of a local consumer rights organization which said the pens were an attempt to degrade Gandhi, known for his austerity, and to mock the country.

The Center for Consumer Education in Kerala argued that the pen is in breach of an Indian law prohibiting improper use of emblems and names.

The court gave only an interim order while it considers the case, the report said. "Mahatma Gandhi is ... considered the epitome of simplicity. Making him a symbol of a 1.4-million-rupee pen is nothing but an attempt to degrade everything that he symbolized," the petition said.