Patanjali moves Delhi HC against order restricting disparaging ads on Dabur

Patanjali Ayurved on Friday approached the Delhi High Court challenging an order restraining it from running disparaging advertisements against Dabur Chyawanprash.

A bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla orally observed that it was a case of generic disparagement and the statements made by Patanjali are an obvious reference to respondent Dabur. The division bench has listed the appeal for further hearing on September 23.

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The court pointed out Patanjali’s use of the line, “Why settle for ordinary chyawanprash made with 40 herbs?” noting that the reference unmistakably targeted Dabur.

“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 told Patanjali’s counsel.

The court warned Patanjali that in case it finds it to be a luxury litigation and a useless appeal, it will impose costs.

The court further remarked that the single judge’s earlier decision—treating the advertisement as disparaging and granting an interim injunction—was discretionary in nature and did not warrant interference. It warned Patanjali that if the current appeal was found to be “luxury litigation” or frivolous, costs would be imposed.

“These are clearly disparaging statements. You have painted everyone else in black, implying they don’t know how chyawanprash is made. Why should we entertain such an appeal?” the court said.

On July 3, the court in an order restrained Patanjali from publishing or broadcasting disparaging ads against Dabur Chyawanprash. Dabur had argued that Patanjali’s print and television campaigns positioned its own product as “special” while terming others “ordinary,” effectively denigrating Dabur’s product and chyawanprash in general.

The court at that time ordered Patanjali to delete the phrase “Why settle for ordinary chyawanprash made with 40 herbs?” from its advertisements. It also highlighted that the television commercial was narrated by Baba Ramdev himself—whose public standing as a yoga and Ayurveda authority amplified the impact of the claims.