Dabur sues Patanjali Ayurved over 'disparaging' Chyawanprash advertisement

Leading consumer goods firm Dabur on Tuesday filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against rival Patanjali Ayurved, seeking to restrain it from running 'disparaging' advertisements against its Chyawanprash products, according to a report from Bar and Bench. While Justice Mini Pushkarna was initially inclined to refer the case to mediation, she finally listed it for hearing in the last week of January after Dabur pressed for immediate relief. 

 

The lawsuit alleges that an advertisement featuring Patanjali Ayurved founder Baba Ramdev falsely claims that only Patanjali's Chyawanprash is 'original' and thus authentic while other Chyawanprash manufacturers lack knowledge of ‘Ved’ (or Vedas) and ‘Ayurved’, both considered traditional sources of knowledge, thus making their Chyawanprash inauthentic or fake versions. 

 

According to the report, Swami Ramdev is quoted as saying in the advertisement, "Jinko Ayurved aur Vedo ka gyaan nahi, Charak, Sushrut, Dhanwantari aur Chyawanrishi ke parampara mei ‘original’ Chyawanprash kaise bana payenge?” (Those who don't have knowledge of Ayurved and Ved, how will they make 'original' Chyawanprash in the tradition of Charak, Sushrut, Dhanwantari and Chyawanrishi). All four historical figures mentioned in the commercial are regarded as accomplished practitioners of the Ayurvedic system of medicine.  

 

Appearing for Dabur, senior advocate Akhil Sibal contended that such claims mislead consumers. He cited the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to highlight that all Chyawanprash are bound by law to adhere to specific ingredients as outlined in Ayurvedic texts. He argued that alleging Dabur’s Chyawanprash – which commands a 61.6 per cent market share in the segment – as being inauthentic damages its reputation. 

 

Sibal further contended that Patanjali Ayurved is a habitual offender. He also cited Supreme Court orders in the contempt petition registered against the company for airing misleading advertisements against modern systems of medicine. He told the court that Patanjali has run these advertisements around 900 times over the past three days on various TV channels such as Colors, Star, Zee, Sony and Aaj Tak, and also published it in the Delhi edition of the newspaper Dainik Jagran. Sibal argued that this has the potential to impact the minds of the public. 

 

Appearing for Patanjali Ayurved, senior advocate Jayant Mehta questioned the maintainability of the suit, and sought time to file a response.  

 

In September 2017, too, Dabur had taken Patanjali to court for disparaging advertisements against its Chyawanprash, saying its ‘trade dress and packaging’ were similar to Dabur’s and were liable to fool consumers.