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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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
