Istafa Ali
Delhi High Court in India has permanently restricted the e-commerce platform Amazon from adding the Pakistan-manufactured Rooh Afza to its platform and has restrained them from selling any products under the name of ‘ROOHAFZA’.
The popular drink’s Indian maker, Hamdard National Foundation, filed a petition alleging that an online retailer was marketing Rooh Afza made in Pakistan on their website, leading to the decision.
Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed originally presented Rooh Afza in Delhi. His older son, however, moved to India and his younger son, to Pakistan after the partition of India and Pakistan.
In India, Rooh Afza is produced by Hamdard National Foundation, and in Pakistan, Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) has the rights to the beverage.
“Rooh Afza” is a product that the Indian public has been consuming for more than a century, and its quality standards have to meet with the relevant regulations established by the high court, the high court ruled on Wednesday.
The petition by Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Laboratories India said that it noticed various brands selling Rooh Afza on Amazon which was illegal.
It added that some sellers took down the products after they were served legal notices but recently, the company spotted a seller selling Rooh Afza bottles manufactured in Pakistan.
The court in the order dated September 5 said when one clicks on the link ‘Visit the Hamdard Store’, which is provided next to the product listing of Golden Leaf — the seller of imported Rooh Afza on Amazon – the consumer is taken to the webpage of Hamdard Laboratories India.
“Thus, any consumer or user on the platform is likely to confuse the ‘ROOH AFZA’ product originating from Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf), Pakistan as being connected or originating from the Plaintiffs..,” said the court.
The bench said that it was binding on Amazon – being an intermediary – to disclose the names of sellers and their contact details with the product listings.
