The Delhi High Court has ordered Patanjali to immediately take down its controversial advertisement that allegedly defamed rival chyawanprash brands as “dhoka.” The court directed removal from all media platforms, including TV, OTT, print, and social media.
The Delhi High Court issued an interim order preventing Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved from airing a new advertisement that allegedly labeled all other chyawanprash brands as “dhoka” (fraud or deception).
Justice Tejas Karia instructed social media companies, Over The Top (OTT) platforms, and broadcasters to remove the advertisement within three days.
The Court directed,
“The Defendants shall take down / block / disable the Impugned Advertisement 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,”
This ruling came after Dabur India filed a lawsuit against Patanjali for disparagement and unfair competition concerning a recent television commercial promoting Patanjali Special Chyawanprash.
According to Dabur’s complaint, the ad featured Baba Ramdev warning consumers that “most people are being duped in the name of chyawanprash.”
It branded other chyawanprash brands as “Dhoka” and presented Patanjali’s product as the only “original” Chyawanprash that offers the “true power of Ayurveda.”
Dabur argued that the commercial intentionally undermined its flagship product, Dabur Chyawanprash, which has maintained over 61% of the market share since 1949.
The plea contended that the messaging from Patanjali represented “generic disparagement” of the entire chyawanprash category, thereby jeopardizing consumer trust in Ayurvedic health supplements.
After weighing the arguments, the Court determined that the advertisement aims to discredit the whole category of chyawanprash products.
Also Read: Kerala Court Issues Arrest Warrant Against Baba Ramdev For Misleading Patanjali Ads
The Court stated,
“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 ruling noted that although Patanjali’s ad does not specifically target Dabur’s product, it designates all other chyawanprash as ‘dhoka’. As Dabur is the market leader, it would be negatively impacted by this portrayal.
In conclusion, the Court ruled that a prima facie case was established for granting an injunction,
“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.”
Consequently, the Court issued an injunction against Patanjali.
Also Read: Dabur vs Patanjali: Case In High Court Against Patanjali Over Misleading Chyawanprash Ad
Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, along with advocates R Jawahar Lal, Anirudh Bakhru, Meghna Kumar, and Krisna Gambhir, represented Dabur.
Senior Advocates Rajiv Nayar and Jayant Mehta, along with advocates Rahul Sahay, Rishabh Pant, Neha Gupta, Abhijeet Kr Pandey, Osheen Verna, and Pratham Arora, represented Patanjali.
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