The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Patanjali Ayurved to delete portions of its advertisement that allegedly disparaged Dabur’s chyawanprash while allowing the company to retain the phrase, “Why settle for ordinary Chyawanprash.”
A division bench of Justices Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla passed the order on an appeal filed by Patanjali against a July ruling of a single-judge bench that had restrained the company from running “disparaging” commercials.
The court clarified that Patanjali may continue using the expression “ordinary Chyawanprash” as it amounted only to “puffery,” a permissible form of advertising. However, it ordered removal of the line “made with 40 herbs.”
“We are dealing with chyawanprash, not a prescription drug. To say ‘I am best and others are not as good as me’ is permissible because it is puffery. We don’t really think that because of the word ‘ordinary’ people will stop taking Dabur Chyawanprash,” the bench observed.
The court stressed that comparative advertising should not cross into disparagement. “At the highest, it is puffery,” the bench reiterated.
In July, Justice Mini Pushkarna had directed Patanjali to delete the lines, “Why settle for ordinary Chyawanprash made with 40 herbs?” and “Toh ordinary chyawanprash kyu?” along with another line narrated by Baba Ramdev in the TV commercial:
“Jinko Ayurved aur Vedo ka gyaan nahi, Charak, Sushrut, Dhanvantri aur Chyawanrishi ki parampara ke anuroop, original Chyawanprash kaise bana payenge?”
The single judge held that the commercial, though not naming Dabur directly, disparaged its chyawanprash and the entire segment by suggesting that other manufacturers lacked the knowledge to prepare the product.
On appeal, Patanjali argued that its advertisement never referred to Dabur by name and urged the court to permit use of the line “ordinary chyawanprash.” The company agreed to remove the phrase “made with 40 herbs” and confirmed it would not press for revival of the barred portions.
The bench accepted this undertaking and permitted Patanjali to run its print and television ads after the modifications.
Dabur India Limited had approached the high court alleging that Patanjali’s Special Chyawanprash commercials amounted to generic disparagement by claiming that “no other manufacturer has the knowledge to prepare chyawanprash.”
