The Delhi High Court has restrained yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved from running an allegedly disparaging advertisement that described chyawanprash produced by other brands as “dhoka” or deception, Live Law reported on Tuesday.

Chyawanprash is an Ayurvedic formulation made from a blend of sugar, honey, ghee, Indian gooseberry jam and several herbs and spices. It is sold as a dietary supplement.

On Thursday, a bench of Justice Tejas Karia directed Patanjali to take down the videos within 72 hours and said that the restriction will remain in place until February 26, 2026.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Dabur India that was aggrieved by a 25-second advertisement released by Patanjali titled “51 herbs. One truth. Patanjali Chyawanprash!”, which described its own product as the “original” chyawanprash that offered the “true power of Ayurveda”, PTI reported.

The bench noted that Dabur was a market leader in the chyawanprash category, enjoying 61.1% of the market share as of September, and is likely to be adversely affected by the disparaging nature of the advertisement.

“Such a statement would naturally lead viewers to accept it as true and disregard other brands of chyawanprash,” the court said. “In evaluating the overall impact of the impugned advertisement, it is necessary to consider factors such as the stature and influence of the endorser.”

The bench said that the test of an advertisement has to be seen based on what impact or impression it would have on an “ordinary person of average intelligence”, Live Law reported

It held that while comparative advertising in itself was not the problem, it must not be “false, misleading, unfair or deceptive”.

“Creative liberty and puffery are protected as free speech, but disparagement of a competitor’s product cannot be allowed,” the court held.

In July too, the High Court had restrained Ramdev from running similarly disparaging advertisements about Dabur’s chyawanprash.

The advertisements at the time had called a “40-herb” chyawanprash “ordinary”. This was a reference to Dabur’s product that advertised itself as using “40+ herbs”, Dabur had alleged.

On September 19, the High Court pulled up Patanjali Ayurved for challenging the July order, directing the company to either withdraw the petition or face a fine.

In July, Dabur also claimed that Patanjali Ayurved was a habitual offender, citing earlier orders in contempt proceedings against the company for similar advertising conduct.

In April, the Delhi High Court had ordered Ramdev to take down advertisements in which he claimed that food company Hamdard’s drink Rooh Afza was being used to orchestrate “sharbat jihad”.

In May, a day after the court warned Ramdev of contempt proceedings for publishing a new video allegedly targeting Hamdard, the yoga guru said that he will not make statements or publish social media posts targeting Rooh Afza.

Also read: A brief history of Patanjali’s dangerous claims

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