Mumbai, India: Dabur India Limited, one of India’s largest FMCG companies, has filed a suit in the Commercial Division of the Calcutta High Court against Avanish Agarwal, an independent metabolic health educator with over 87,601 followers across Instagram and YouTube, seeking to prohibit him from publishing content about their REAL Fruit Power brand.
The application filed by Dabur sought a prohibitory order restraining Mr. Agarwal from posting videos they described as “disparaging” to the brand. The videos in question, including content titled “That Litchi Juice Has More Sugar Than Coke,” were based entirely on information printed on Dabur’s own product packaging.
The Court Did Not Grant the Injunction:
In its order dated 19th May 2026, the Hon’ble Justice Sugato Majumdar of the Calcutta High Court explicitly observed: “Counter balancing consumer interests cannot be ignored, at this stage, before passing the injunction.”
The court further noted that the creator’s content was based on words printed on the petitioner’s own product. The matter has been listed before the regular bench after reopening, with notice to be served on the respondents.
What This Case Is Really About:
Mr. Agarwal’s content does not manufacture claims. It reads labels. It translates nutrition information, information that Indian consumers have a legal and moral right to know, into language that ordinary people can understand. India has one of the highest rates of metabolic disease in the world. Diabetes, obesity, and lifestyle-related illness are a national health crisis. Independent educators who help consumers decode what is actually inside packaged food and beverages serve a vital public function.
When a company files a legal case against someone for reading their label aloud, the question every consumer should be asking is: what is on that label that they don’t want you to understand?
Statement from Avanish Agarwal:
“I said what the bottle said. I showed what the label showed. If that is the basis of a legal case, then this is no longer just about me. It is about whether consumers in this country have the right to be informed. I am cooperating fully with the legal process and will continue to share everything transparently.”
