New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has ordered a Noida resident to delete her social media posts that alleged she found a centipede in a tub of Amul ice cream she bought.
Justice Manmeet P S Arora, while dealing with a suit by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which markets products under the brand name Amul, further restrained the client from publishing and uploading any other identical or similar content on social media platforms. until new order.
In a post on social media platform 'X' on June 15, Deepa Devi shared an image purportedly showing a centipede inside her tub of Amul ice cream that she ordered through an instant delivery app.
The plaintiff company argued before the high court that the claim was false and incorrect, since it was absolutely impossible for any foreign substance, much less an insect, to be present in a tub of ice cream packaged at its premises.
In an order passed on July 4, the court observed that the lack of cooperation of the clients who also remained absent in the present proceedings has given credence to the company's case.
He noted that the customers were given the opportunity to participate in the court proceedings and assert the claim they had raised in their social media post, but "chose not to appear" and also refused to hand over the tub of ice cream to the company for the purpose of the investigation.
"The non-appearance of accused numbers 1 and 2 (Deepa Devi and her husband) evidences their unwillingness to participate in the forensic examination and verification of their claims about the dead insect made in the social media posts uploaded on 06/15/2024." the court observed in an ex parte ad interim order issued in the case.
"Accused Nos. 1 and 2 are directed to immediately delete the social media posts uploaded by them on the Twitter/X account of accused No. 1 titled @Deepadi11...within 3 days," the court ordered.
They are prohibited from "posting and uploading any content identical or similar to such post" on 'X' or any other social media platform, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, until further order, it said.
In addition, they are prohibited from "publishing or causing to be published any content regarding the plaintiff or the plaintiff's product with respect to the incidents mentioned in the complaint, anywhere on the Internet or in print or electronic media until further order," it added.
The court clarified that if the defendants do not remove the social media posts within three days, the company can write to 'X' to remove them from its platform.
Represented by senior advocate Sunil Dalal and advocate Abhishek Singh, the plaintiff company claimed that while it was willing to investigate the matter and had even contacted the customers on June 15, they refused to put the tub of ice cream available to officials.
It was submitted that numerous strict quality checks are employed at every stage, from procurement of raw milk from the farmer to manufacturing of ice cream in the plaintiff's modern ISO certified plants to loading of the finished product into specially designed containers. Temperature-controlled refrigerated vans.
The court was assured that the strict quality controls absolutely ensure that no physical, bacterial or chemical contamination of any kind is introduced into the product and also ensures that each product meets the standards set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India .
The plaintiff argued that any government laboratory could perform a forensic examination, as it would effectively determine whether the insect was actually present in the tub of ice cream before it was sealed and packaged.
Justice Manmeet P S Arora, while dealing with a suit by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which markets products under the brand name Amul, further restrained the client from publishing and uploading any other identical or similar content on social media platforms. until new order.
In a post on social media platform 'X' on June 15, Deepa Devi shared an image purportedly showing a centipede inside her tub of Amul ice cream that she ordered through an instant delivery app.
The plaintiff company argued before the high court that the claim was false and incorrect, since it was absolutely impossible for any foreign substance, much less an insect, to be present in a tub of ice cream packaged at its premises.
In an order passed on July 4, the court observed that the lack of cooperation of the clients who also remained absent in the present proceedings has given credence to the company's case.
He noted that the customers were given the opportunity to participate in the court proceedings and assert the claim they had raised in their social media post, but "chose not to appear" and also refused to hand over the tub of ice cream to the company for the purpose of the investigation.
"The non-appearance of accused numbers 1 and 2 (Deepa Devi and her husband) evidences their unwillingness to participate in the forensic examination and verification of their claims about the dead insect made in the social media posts uploaded on 06/15/2024." the court observed in an ex parte ad interim order issued in the case.
"Accused Nos. 1 and 2 are directed to immediately delete the social media posts uploaded by them on the Twitter/X account of accused No. 1 titled @Deepadi11...within 3 days," the court ordered.
They are prohibited from "posting and uploading any content identical or similar to such post" on 'X' or any other social media platform, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, until further order, it said.
In addition, they are prohibited from "publishing or causing to be published any content regarding the plaintiff or the plaintiff's product with respect to the incidents mentioned in the complaint, anywhere on the Internet or in print or electronic media until further order," it added.
The court clarified that if the defendants do not remove the social media posts within three days, the company can write to 'X' to remove them from its platform.
Represented by senior advocate Sunil Dalal and advocate Abhishek Singh, the plaintiff company claimed that while it was willing to investigate the matter and had even contacted the customers on June 15, they refused to put the tub of ice cream available to officials.
It was submitted that numerous strict quality checks are employed at every stage, from procurement of raw milk from the farmer to manufacturing of ice cream in the plaintiff's modern ISO certified plants to loading of the finished product into specially designed containers. Temperature-controlled refrigerated vans.
The court was assured that the strict quality controls absolutely ensure that no physical, bacterial or chemical contamination of any kind is introduced into the product and also ensures that each product meets the standards set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India .
The plaintiff argued that any government laboratory could perform a forensic examination, as it would effectively determine whether the insect was actually present in the tub of ice cream before it was sealed and packaged.
