The anti-smoking warning created by DAVP and approved by the health ministry was released last year.

After studying the image, which has a strong likeness to Terry, Keith Cousins of Elite Management, the footballer’s managers, said: “We have reviewed this matter with our client and have today instructed solicitors to take appropriate action.”

DAVP additional director-general K S Dhatwalia said it was “not clear” how the image made it to the pictorial warning. “We sent the creative to the health ministry and they then cleared and circulated it. But how Terry’s picture got to be used is not clear. I am trying to find out,” Dhatwalia said.

But a senior official of the health ministry said it is DAVP which was responsible for images used in the pictorial health warning. The official added that when the strong resemblance between Terry and the image in the warning was brought to the ministry’s notice, it had issued a clarification saying it had “nothing to do with John Terry”.

“We realised there was some confusion about one of the warnings and we immediately issued a clarification in November. The creative came to us from DAVP and we released it after due clearances. We are not responsible for pictures that may have been used by DAVP and cannot say whether it is the footballer,” said the official.

ITC, the makers of the brand whose pack is among the many that features ‘Terry’ now, said in a statement that the “pictorial representation is as per packaging and labelling rules prescribed by the Government of India... dated May 27, 2011. The entire tobacco industry has to follow the same based on the CD that has been provided by the Government of India”.