The Delhi High Court has passed an interim injunction against Patanjali Ayurved in a dispute brought by Dabur India, directing Patanjali to cease dissemination of a television commercial for its “Special Chyawanprash” that was alleged to disparage all other brands in the market.
In its order, the court noted that the advertisement, in which a woman says “Chalo dhoka khao” and a voice‑over states “Adhikansh log Chyawanprash ke naam par dhoka kha rahe hain”, referred to competing products as ‘dhoka’ (fraud or deception) and held out Patanjali’s product as the only “original” choice.
“The Defendants shall take down / block / disable the Impugned Advertisement from from all electronic medium including national television channels, over the top platforms or any form of streaming system, and all other digital mediums including and print mediums and platforms on the World Wide Web / Internet, Newspapers, all of their social media accounts,” the Court directed.
“Therefore, for an average viewer of the Impugned Advertisement featuring Mr. Baba Ramdev, a well‑known authority on yoga and Vedic practices, and his assertion that only the Defendants’ Product is genuine Chyawanprash is likely to create a strong impression. Such a statement would naturally lead viewers to accept it as true and disregard other brands of Chyawanprash. In evaluating the overall impact of the Impugned Advertisement, it is necessary to consider factors such as the stature and influence of the endorser. Consequently, both in its tone and underlying intent, the Impugned Advertisement seeks to disparage the entire category of Chyawanprash products,” the Court said.
“A false advertisement campaign would cause irreparable loss to the Plaintiff while stopping broadcast of an advertisement referring to the Plaintiff’s Product or the products of other competitors as ‘deceptive’ may not have any material effect on the Defendants, considering that it is free to advertise its product without reference to the competitor’s products as deceptive.”
The court held that even though Patanjali’s advertisement did not single out Dabur by name, the message that any Chyawanprash other than Patanjali’s was “dhoka” could harm Dabur, which is the market leader with more than 61 % share in the category.
Patanjali argued that the term “dhoka” was a creative exaggeration and constituted permissible “puffery” under the right to free speech, but the court rejected this defence, finding that the advertisement crossed the permissible boundary by denigrating a whole class of competing products.
The injunction order requires the advertisement to be taken down, blocked or disabled within 72 hours on all television, OTT, digital, print and social media platforms. The next hearing in the matter is set for further consideration of the case.
