Dabur vs Patanjali: Delhi HC restrains Ramdev's firm from running ‘disparaging’ Chyawanprash advertisements

The Delhi High Court on Thursday restrained Patanjali Ayurved from running allegedly disparaging advertisements against Dabur Chyawanprash.

A bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna passed the order while allowing interim injunction applications filed by Dabur in its suit against Patanjali.

“Application is allowed,” the court said, listing the matter for further hearing on July 14.

Patanjali vs Dabur: What’s the case?

Dabur had moved the high court on December 24 last year seeking to restrain Patanjali from running advertisements allegedly disparaging its Chyawanprash products. Summons were issued in the suit in December.

In a second interim injunction application, Dabur alleged that after the issuance of summons, Patanjali ran 6,182 advertisements against its product in one week.

According to the suit, an advertisement featuring Patanjali Ayurved founder Swami Ramdev falsely claimed that only Patanjali’s Chyawanprash is “authentic” and all other brands lack the traditional Ayurvedic knowledge required for its preparation.

Dabur also objected to Patanjali’s reference to a 40-herb Chyawanprash as “ordinary,” contending that this was a direct reference to Dabur’s product, which advertises itself as using “40+ herbs” and holds over 60% of the Chyawanprash market.

Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Dabur, submitted that Patanjali claimed its product was made using more than 51 herbs, whereas only 47 herbs were used.

The company argued that such statements misrepresented Patanjali's own formulation, questioned Dabur’s adherence to Ayurvedic tradition and branded Dabur’s product as inferior.

Dabur submitted that Patanjali's advertisements insinuated health risks from consuming non-Patanjali products.

It also flagged earlier Supreme Court orders in contempt proceedings against Patanjali for similar conduct, alleging that the company is a habitual offender.

Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta, appearing for Patanjali, denied the submissions made by Sethi. He submitted that all ingredients used in Patanjali’s product were as per the prescribed formula and fit for human consumption.

Further hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 14.