A consumer disputes redressal commission in Jaipur has issued a notice to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over an allegedly misleading advertisement for a pan masala.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jaipur II, also issued a similar notice to Vimal Kumar Agarwal, chairman of JB Industries that manufactures Vimal Pan Masala, and directed all parties to appear before it on March 19.
“The hearing date has been fixed at 10am. If you fail to appear in person or through your authorised representative, the complaint will be decided ex parte on the above mentioned hearing date,” the notice, issued by commission chairman Gyarsilal Meena and member Hemlata Agarwal in Hindi on March 5, said.
The commission also directed all the actors and the pan masala manufacturing company to file their responses within 30 days from the day of receipt of the notice.
There was no immediate comment from the actors or the company till the time of filing this report.
The notice was issued on the basis of a complaint by Jaipur-based advocate Yogendra Singh Badiyal, who claimed the advertisement says “daane daane mein hai kesar ka dum (every grain of the said pan masala has the power of saffron)”. Due to this, “applicant number one (JB Industries) is making crores of rupees and the common people are regularly consuming the pan masala which is harmful for health and inviting serious diseases like cancer,” he said.
The 68-year-old lawyer said the public is being lured to purchase Vimal Pan Masala “in the name of saffron-containing gutkha”.
“Common people are getting confused in the name of saffron while there is no mixture of any substance like saffron in the said product,” he said.
The price of saffron in the market is Rs 4 lakh per kg and the pan masala costs only Rs 5, he said. “The saffron cannot be mixed, leave alone its fragrance,” he added
Mr Badiyal demanded action against the manufacturing firm and the actors involved in the product’s promotion “for spreading false information and cheating the general public”.
“Due to this false publicity and propagation, general public is facing loss of life and health, for which the applicants are separately and indirectly responsible,” he said.
He demanded a fine be imposed on the accused, and a ban on the advertisement as well as the pan masala “with immediate effect… in the interest of justice and the general public”.
The lawyer said he “participates in social services and social awareness activities and takes action for the upliftment of the society and against social evils and propaganda”.
(With inputs from Sushant Pareek)