NEW DELHI, Sept 19: Patanjali Ayurved on Friday moved the Delhi High Court against an order restraining it from airing or publishing advertisements disparaging Dabur Chyawanprash.
A division bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla, while hearing the appeal, observed that Patanjali’s campaign amounted to “generic disparagement” and appeared to be a direct reference to Dabur. The bench noted Patanjali’s ad tagline “Why settle for ordinary chyawanprash made with 40 herbs?” as unmistakably targeting Dabur’s flagship product.
“When you describe 40 herbs as ordinary, the public naturally infers you are calling the respondent’s chyawanprash inferior while projecting yours as superior,” the judges remarked.
The court cautioned Patanjali that if the appeal turned out to be “luxury litigation” or frivolous, costs would be imposed. It further underlined that the single-judge’s earlier order treating the ads as disparaging and granting an injunction was discretionary and did not warrant interference.
On July 3, the High Court had restrained Patanjali from broadcasting or publishing disparaging advertisements against Dabur. Dabur argued that Patanjali’s print and TV ads positioned its product as “special” while dismissing others, particularly Dabur Chyawanprash, as “ordinary.”
The earlier ruling also directed Patanjali to delete the disparaging phrase from its campaigns. The court noted that the television commercial, voiced by Baba Ramdev himself, amplified the claims due to his public stature in yoga and Ayurveda.
The matter is now scheduled for further hearing on September 23.