The Delhi High Court on Thursday recorded compliance by Visage Lines Personal Care Private Limited, the parent company of Bombay Shaving Company, with its direction to remove an advertisement that had depicted a mock courtroom in the ongoing product disparagement dispute with Gillette India.

 

The company told Justice Jyoti Singh that the advertisement had been removed from all platforms under its control and that references to the court and the earlier litigation had also been taken down. The compliance was recorded without prejudice to the company’s rights and contentions in the suit.

 

During the hearing, Gillette India objected to a fresh commercial by Bombay Shaving Company and sought immediate intervention from the court, with Senior Advocate Chander M Lall, appearing for Gillette, describing the advertisement as obscene.

  

Lall argued that allowing the advertisement to remain would effectively amount to the court giving its “stamp of approval to this obscenity”.

 

The court declined to pass any order on the new advertisement at this stage. Justice Singh said the issue could be considered only after a formal challenge was brought before the court.

 

“I am not going to permit you, you do what you have to. If there is a challenge, there will be a challenge,” the judge observed orally.

 

Appearing for Bombay Shaving Company, Advocate Prithvi Singh said the fresh advertisement did not refer to Gillette or disparage its products. The company therefore argued that the new commercial could not be restrained in the existing disparagement proceedings, while any independent grievance regarding its content could be pursued through an appropriate remedy.

 

Singh offered to file a response within a day to enable the court to take up the issue concerning the fresh advertisement separately.

 

The court granted Bombay Shaving Company two weeks to file its reply to the main suit, following which Gillette can file its rejoinder. The matter is likely to be heard on November 6.

 

Gillette had also raised concerns over copies and clips of the original advertisement continuing to circulate on social media through accounts and influencers not controlled by Bombay Shaving Company.

 

The court permitted Gillette to approach the relevant social media platforms directly for removal of such material. It also allowed the company to return to court if the platforms do not take appropriate action.

 

The court further took note of a modified version of the original advertisement that Bombay Shaving Company had submitted in accordance with the earlier direction.

 

Commenting on the development, a Gillette spokesperson said, “We have the utmost regard for our courts and their judicial process. We believe advertising should be responsible, fair and respectful of consumers, as well as of the brands and products they rely on. At Gillette India, the consumer is always at the heart of everything we do. We believe in giving consumers truly the power of choice through a wide portfolio of innovative and high-performing products they trust, and that is why more than 120 million Indian men choose a Gillette shave every morning.”