Drop portion in ads disparaging Dabur's Chyawanprash: Delhi HC to Patanjali

The Delhi High Court restrained Patanjali from using "40 herbs" in ads against Dabur Chyawanprash but said calling rivals "ordinary" was permissible puffery in advertising

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday disposed of Patanjali Ayurved’s appeal against an order restraining it from airing advertisements allegedly disparaging Dabur’s Chyawanprash, directing it to remove some portions of its ad.

 

The court said that Patanjali can use the line “why use ordinary Chyawanprash”, but ordered it to remove “made with 40 herbs” from the ad.

 

The court’s order came on Patanjali's appeal challenging a July single-judge order in favour of Dabur India, asking the former to remove two portions from its commercials- “Why settle for ordinary Chyawanprash made with 40 herbs?”, and another stating, “Jinko Ayurved aur Vedo ka gyaan nahi, Charak, Sushrut, Dhanvantri aur Chyawanrishi ki parampara ke anuroop, original Chyawanprash kaise bana payenge?”

 

Patanjali challenged this ruling before a division bench, with its counsel on Tuesday informing the court that the company would drop the “40 herbs” reference and restrict the campaign to describing other products as “ordinary.”

 

The lawyer also clarified that Patanjali would not press its challenge against the deleted television commercial line.

 

Dabur’s lawyer, in reply, said he was agreeable to the disposal of the appeal, provided Patanjali would be bound by its assurance to the court.

 

The bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla upheld the injunction against the use of the second line, and recorded Patanjali’s undertaking on deleting the words “made with 40 herbs.”

 

“Moment you put 40 herbs, it is a direct target to them (Dabur). Why should we interfere?” the court noted.

 

However, on the use of the word “ordinary,” the bench took a different view. 

 

“Ordinary is generally alright. Everyone has the right to say mine is superb and the rest ordinary,” the court remarked, adding that such claims fall within the realm of puffery permissible in advertising.

 

Dabur, however, argued that since its product complies with the Drugs Act, it could not be labelled “ordinary.” 

 

The court said that once “40 herbs” is removed, the phrase “Why settle for ordinary Chyawanprash” may not qualify as disparagement.

 

“We are dealing with Chyawanprash, not a prescription drug. If someone says ordinary for a cancer drug, it may be serious. But Chyawanprash is widely used… the law on advertising has travelled far. You can even run down someone else’s product, provided you don’t disparage it,” the bench observed.

 

The earlier order had observed that Patanjali’s campaign suggested rival Chyawanprash brands were “ordinary” and not prepared in accordance with ayurvedic knowledge.