Politics
Maharashtra FDA ends pan masala ad probe of 3 actors
Livemint·
Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said proceedings against Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over Vimal Pan Masala ads are complete. Investigators found rule violations, and adjudication is due next week. Notices alleged surrogate advertising for pan masala products banned in Maharashtra. Devgn has moved the Bombay High Court, with a hearing likely on November 4.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Celebrity endorsements of elaichi brands in Maharashtra now sit in a completed FDA investigation file.
- Adjudication before the joint commissioner can impose penalties without a full criminal trial.
- Devgn's High Court challenge does not pause the department's path to the joint commissioner, Mundhe said.
What's Happening
- Mundhe told PTI the assistant commissioner finished the probe and found rule violations.
- Three actors had sought time to respond before the investigation closed.
- A Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna is listed for November 4.
What Adjudication Can Decide
- Notices alleged the Vimal Elaichi campaign was surrogate advertising for gutkha and pan masala.
- Those products are prohibited in Maharashtra, according to the FDA's contention.
- Devgn's petition calls the show-cause notice arbitrary for targeting the actor rather than the manufacturer.
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