New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday heard the case related to the Pan Masala advertisement case. The court reserved its verdict on the jurisdictional issue of the company’s petition challenging the show-cause notices issued by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgan and Tiger Shroff for the Vimal advertisement.
A single-judge bench of Justice Swaran Kanta Sharma heard the case. The court reserved its order on whether the Delhi High Court can entertain the petition of the petitioner company. The company had sought directions to quash the show-cause notices issued by the Maharashtra FDA.
During the hearing, the petitioner company said that the Maharashtra FDA notices were issued only to the actors and not to the company. It argued that any action against the advertisement would cause irreparable damage to the company. The company further said that the Maharashtra FDA does not have the jurisdiction to issue a direction to stop the advertisement.
Opposing the management of the petition in the Delhi High Court, the Centre and the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) argued that the petition should have been filed in the Bombay High Court since the Maharashtra FDA had already taken relevant action. The authority said that although it is investigating the matter independently, it has no objection to the Maharashtra FDA issuing the notice. The Delhi High Court was informed that the authority is pursuing its own action on similar allegations related to the advertisement. But no directions have been issued against the campaign.