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Informist, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025

 

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. to use "why settle for ordinary chyawanprash" in its advertisement. However, it asked Patanjali to remove the reference to a phrase where it said that the ordinary chyawanprash by rivals was "made with 40 herbs", as the latter was directly targeting Dabur India's 40-herb formulation. The court said that comparative puffery was permitted in advertising.

 

"Today, comparative advertising has travelled far beyond what it may have been 30 years ago. To say 'I am the best and others are not as good' is permissible as puffery," said a Bench of Justices Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla. The enlightened consumers are not likely to abandon Dabur's product merely because of Patanjali's use of the word "ordinary", the bench added.

 

Consequently, the division bench of the high court closed Patanjali Ayurved's appeal against a single-judge's July order that directed the company to delete parts of an advertisement that disparaged Dabur's chyawanprash. The division bench left the remaining issues open to be decided by the trial court.

 

Earlier before the single judge, Dabur India had highlighted Patanjali Ayurved's commercial which said that those who lack knowledge of Ayurved and Vedic traditions cannot produce the "original" chyawanprash. Dabur India had said that the statement implied that only Patanjali Ayurved's product was authentic, while other brands were inferior or fake. 

 

Dabur India had said the advertisement incorrectly claimed Patanjali Ayurved's product was made using more than 51 herbs. Patanjali Ayurved is using only 47 herbs, said Dabur India, adding that it was "misinformation to the public at large". Dabur India said that Patanjali Ayurved has specifically referred to Dabur's product made using 40 herbs as ordinary. "They refer to us as ordinary. They make a market leader ordinary," said Dabur India, adding that it holds a dominant 61.6% market share in the chyawanprash segment. Further, Dabur India said Patanjali was using mercury in its chyawanprash product, which was not fit for consumption by children. Patanjali Ayurved is the parent company of Patanjali Foods Ltd.

 

At 1411 IST, shares of Patanjali Foods were up 0.5% at INR 600.10 on the National Stock Exchange, the shares of Dabur India were down 1.1% at INR 516.20.  End  

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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