Will remove reference to other sunscreen from ads: Hindustan Unilever to Delhi High Court
New Delhi/Mumbai, Apr 17 (PTI): In response to a suit filed by Honasa Consumer Ltd's sunscreen brand The Derma Co, Hindustan Unilever Ltd assured the Delhi High Court on Thursday it will remove alleged disparaging references to a competitor from the ads of sunscreen products of HUL subsidiary Lakme.
In a related development, during the hearing of a separate suit filed by HUL against The Derma Co, both sides said they had agreed to remove their respective contentious advertisements as an interim arrangement.
Justice Amit Bansal of the Delhi High Court asked HUL to ensure the ads and hoardings in the present form were discontinued in a time-bound manner.
"You discontinue the ad from today. You show that it is in the spirit of settlement. You can't prolong the removal.. Online (ads) can go within 24 hours," the judge told the HUL's counsel.
Honasa moved the high court against HUL's campaign alleging that while making a reference to the former's "online bestseller" product the defendant claimed it did not offer SPF (sun protection factor) 50.
"You cannot call my product bad on the basis of a one-page executive summary (of a test report) which is inherently contentious.. To say my product is actually SPF 20 and I am misrepresenting to the public every day (is not acceptable)," said the Honasa counsel.
After the court asked if the advertisements could be taken down, the defendant said it would remove the contentious references.
In view of the settlement, the parties also agreed to not press at this stage the lawsuit filed by HUL in the Bombay High Court.
The Delhi high court would hear the case on April 21 after the HUL counsel said they would file an affidavit regarding the proposed changes.
HUL had denied making any disparaging reference to The Derma Co, and said it had laboratory reports to substantiate its claims.
The company, in a statement, said it respected the outcome of the proceedings.
At the Bombay High Court, as HUL's suit came up for hearing before Justice Arif Doctor, both sides said they had agreed, as an interim arrangement, to take down their advertisements within 24 hours and hoardings within 48 hours, said HUL lawyer Hiren Kamod.
HUL contended in its suit that a recent Derma Co billboard took a direct aim at Lakme, and demanded Rs 105 crore in damages from Honasa.
"The said advertisements seek to falsely portray to the consumers and the public at large that Lakme sunscreen products have not, until recently, been tested for SPF efficacy using standard methods," the suit said.
The advertisement claimed the earlier methods adopted by Lakme to certify its products were faulty, sub-standard and inaccurate, it said.
"Such advertisements falsely claim that Derma co sunscreen brand is leading the way, thereby implying that the Lakme Sun Expert range of products until recently have not been safe for the consumers," it added.
The suit in the Bombay High Court will be next heard on April 22.
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IMF approves USD 206 million emergency funding for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka's recovery
Colombo (PTI): The IMF has approved an emergency funding of USD 206 million under its rapid finance instrument to help Sri Lanka “address the urgent needs arising from the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah and preserve macroeconomic stability”.
The cyclone caused widespread destruction in the island nation and left over 643 people dead.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the disaster has created urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs, generating significant fiscal pressures and balance-of-payments needs.
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The emergency financial support provided by the IMF under the rapid finance instrument will help address these pressures, it said.
The IMF added that the cyclone devastation hit when the Fifth Review of Sri Lanka’s USD 2.9 billion bailout was nearing completion.
“Given the time needed to assess the economic impact of the cyclone and examine how an IMF-supported programme can best support Sri Lanka’s recovery and reconstruction efforts while preserving objectives and policy priorities, the Fifth Review has been deferred," it said.
"An IMF mission team will visit Sri Lanka in early 2026 to resume discussions,” it added.
The 48-month extended fund facility deal with the IMF in March 2023 carried hard reforms to Sri Lanka's welfare-based governance.
It was signed after Sri Lanka plunged into an unprecedented economic meltdown with its first-ever sovereign default.
Several hours before the IMF decision, the parliament here approved without a vote a supplementary estimate of LKR 500 billion, which the government said was required to restore the livelihoods of those affected by the disaster.
