Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court reserved the order on territorial jurisdiction regarding the petition filed by Vimal Elaichi manufacturer PB Agro LLP.
The plea challenges show-cause notices issued by the Maharashtra FDA to brand ambassadors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Tiger Shroff over alleged surrogate advertising.
The Maharashtra FDA claimed the cardamom advertisements amounted to surrogate promotion for Vimal Pan Masala, a chewable product banned across the state.
New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) The Delhi High Court will pass on Monday its order on the point of jurisdiction to entertain a plea by makers of Vimal Elaichi seeking to quash show-cause notices issued to their brand ambassadors, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff, by the Maharashtra FDA for alleged misrepresentation of the product in their advertisement.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who has reserved the order on the issue whether the Delhi High Court has territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter, is scheduled to deliver the order on September 14.
In its petition, PB Agro LLP said it engages services of reputed actors for promotion of the cardamom product under the brand Vimal and its endorsement agreements with them, and the company assures that the advertisement campaign is in full compliance of the applicable laws.
It said regulatory notices were issued by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alleging that advertisements for Vimal Elaichi amount to surrogate promotion of Vimal Pan Masala, a chewable product banned within Maharashtra.
The plea said the Maharashtra FDA had directed the actors featured in Vimal Elaichi advertisements to provide documentation demonstrating that Vimal Elaichi is a product different from banned pan masala products. It also called for a halt on the promotional campaign and for the withdrawal of related materials from digital platforms.
The counsel representing the petitioner had argued that the August 11, 2026 FDA notice was sent only to the actors and not to the company itself despite the fact that the company alone is going to suffer irreparably due to any action taken by the state regulator.
The counsel had said the petitioner was not even provided with an opportunity to be heard.
The company had claimed that the Maharashtra FDA lacked jurisdiction to issue directions to halt the advertisement.
In its petition, the company also stated that surrogate advertisement allegations were baseless since Vimal pan masala has not been manufactured or sold in Maharashtra since 2001, and pan masala containing tobacco has been barred by the Supreme Court nationwide since 2013.
The counsel representing the Centre and Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had contended that the petition should have been filed before the Bombay High Court since the show-cause notice has been passed by the Maharashtra government. PTI SKV SKV DV DV
