The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a suit filed by natural healthcare company Dabur against rival Patanjali Ayurved over advertisements related to Chyawanprash products.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna sought response from Patanjali Ayurved and listed the matter for hearing in the last week of January for consideration on interim orders.
The High Court had initially suggested to refer the matter for mediation, however, it eventually decided to hear the case after Dabur pressed for immediate orders restraining Patanjali from running the disparaging advertisement.
The petition raised objection against an advertisement featuring Patanjali Ayurveda founder Swami Ramdev, wherein he said that those having no traditional knowledge of Ayurved and Vedas, along with Charak, Sushrut, Dhanwantari and Chyavanrishi, would not be able to prepare Chyavanprash with the original recipe.
Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal, representing Dabur, submitted that Patanjali Ayurved has been a habitual offender. He then cited the Supreme Court orders in the contempt petition registered against Patanjali earlier this year.
The Counsel referred to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, stating that as per the Act, all companies making Chyawanprash have to adhere to specific formulations and ingredients outlined in ancient Ayurvedic texts.
Calling other Chyawanprash as ordinary implied that they were inferior. The notion was misleading and damaging to competitors like Dabur, which held a 61.6 percent market share in this segment, he added.
Sibal said the misrepresentation in the advertisement not only mislead the consumers, but also denigrated other brands by suggesting they lacked the knowledge or authenticity necessary for proper preparation of Chyavanprash, a classic Ayurvedic medicine.
The advertisements implied that consuming other brands could lead to health issues, which raised concerns about public safety and adherence to regulatory advisories issued by the Ministry of AYUSH against misleading claims, he added.
Sibal said the ads also disparaged the entire category of Chyawanprash.
He apprised the Bench that Patanjali was running these advertisements on various TV channels. In the last three days, the ads, having the potential to affect the minds of the public, have been played 900 times. The advertisement has also been published in the Delhi edition of Dainik Jagran, he added.
Representing Patanjali Ayurved, Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta questioned the maintainability of the suit. He sought time to file a response.