Consumer goods giant Dabur on Tuesday moved a suit before the Delhi High Court alleging that Patanjali Ayurved is running disparaging advertisements against its Chyawanprash products..Dabur pressed for immediate orders restraining Patanjali from running the disparaging advertisement. Justice Mini Pushkarna issued notice in the suit and listed it for hearing in the last week of January for consideration on interim orders. While the judge initially expressed an inclination to refer the case to mediation, she eventually decided to hear the case after Dabur pressed for immediate relief..Dabur is aggrieved by an advertisement featuring Patanjali Ayurveda founder Swami Ramdev, where he says, “Jinko Ayurved aur Vedo ka gyaan nahi, Charak, Sushrut, Dhanwantari aur Chyawanrishi ke parampara mei ‘original’ Chyawanprash kaise bana payenge?” (Alluding that only Patanjali Special Chyawanprash is ‘original’/authentic; and manufacturers of other Chyawanprash in the market have no knowledge of this tradition, and consequently, they are all fake/‘ordinary’).Appearing for Dabur, Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal contended that Patanjali Ayurved is a habitual offender. He cited Supreme Court orders in the contempt petition registered against Patanjali earlier this year. .According to Sibal, calling other Chyawanprash "ordinary" implies that they are inferior and disparages the entire category of Chyawanprash, which is a classical Ayurvedic medicine. Sibal cited the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to state that all Chyawanprash must adhere to specific formulations and ingredients outlined in ancient Ayurvedic texts, making the notion of "ordinary" Chyawanprash misleading and damaging to competitors like Dabur, which holds a 61.6% market share in this segment.He argued that the misrepresentation in the ad not only misleads consumers, but also denigrates other brands by suggesting they lack the knowledge or authenticity necessary for proper Chyawanprash preparation. Furthermore, the advertisements imply that consuming other brands could lead to health issues, which raises concerns about public safety and adherence to regulatory advisories issued by the Ministry of AYUSH against misleading claims..Sibal further told the Court that Patanjali was running these advertisements on various TV channels such as Colors, Star, Zee, Sony and Aaj Tak, among others. In addition to this, he stated that the advertisement has also been published in the Delhi edition of Dainik Jagran. Sibal said that these ads have been played 900 times in the last 3 days and have the potential to affect the minds of the public. .Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta appeared for Patanjali Ayurved and questioned the maintainability of the suit. He sought time to file a response. Sibal was briefed by Advocates Jawahar Lal and Meghna Kumar from J-Law Offices.
