Today, On 5th July, The Delhi High Court ordered the removal of a social media post alleging a centipede found in an Amul ice cream tub. The court noted that the customers’ lack of cooperation and absence from the proceedings supported the company’s stance.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court instructed a Noida resident to remove her social media posts alleging the discovery of a centipede in a tub of Amul ice cream she purchased.
Justice Manmeet P S Arora issued this directive while addressing a lawsuit filed by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which sells products under the Amul brand. The court also prohibited the customer from posting or sharing any similar content on social media until further notice.
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On June 15, Deepa Devi posted on the social media platform ‘X‘ with a photo that supposedly showed a centipede inside her Amul ice cream tub, which she ordered through an instant delivery app.
The plaintiff argued in court that the claim was false and incorrect, asserting that it was impossible for any foreign substance, especially an insect, to be present in an ice cream tub packed at their facility.
In an order issued on July 4, the court noted that the customers’ non-cooperation and absence from the current proceedings have supported the company’s position. The court highlighted that the customers had been given a chance to participate in the proceedings and substantiate their claims made in a social media post. However, they “chose not to appear” and also declined to provide the ice cream tub to the company for investigation purposes.
The court remarked in an ad interim ex-parte order,
“The non-appearance of defendant nos. 1 and 2 (Deepa Devi and her husband) evidences their unwillingness to participate in the forensic examination and verification of their claims of the dead insect made in the social media posts uploaded on 15.06.2024.”
The court directed,
“Defendant nos. 1 and 2 are to promptly remove the social media posts uploaded by them on defendant no. 1’s Twitter/X account titled @Deepadi11 within 3 days.”
Additionally, they are prohibited from “posting and uploading any content identical or similar to the said post” on ‘X‘ or any other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, until further notice.
The court further restrained the defendants from “publishing or causing to publish any content regarding the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s product related to the incidents mentioned in the plaint, anywhere on the internet or in print or electronic media until further orders.”
The court added,
“If the defendants do not remove the social media posts within three days, the company is permitted to request ‘X’ to delete them from their platform.”
Represented by senior advocate Sunil Dalal and lawyer Abhishek Singh, the plaintiff company argued that despite their willingness to investigate the matter and having contacted the customers on June 15, the customers refused to provide the ice cream tub to company officials.
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It also stated that the company implements numerous stringent quality checks at every stage from the procurement of raw milk from farmers to the manufacturing of ice cream at their state-of-the-art ISO certified plants, and during the loading of the finished product into specially designed, temperature-controlled refrigerated vans.
The court assured that these rigorous quality checks ensure no physical, bacterial, or chemical contamination is introduced to the product, and that each product meets the standards established by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
The plaintiff contended that a forensic analysis could be carried out by any government-run laboratory, as it would effectively ascertain whether the insect present in the ice cream container prior to it being sealed and packaged.