Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has made it clear that celebrity status will not prevent Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff from facing action over their association with a Vimal Elaichi advertisement. The three actors were issued show-cause notices by the Maharashtra FDA over allegations that the campaign amounted to surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala, a product prohibited in the state.Mundhe said the FDA has already initiated adjudication and prosecution proceedings against one of the actors who did not respond to the notice within the stipulated time.“According to you they may be stars, but according to me they are only advertisers in this case. So I am looking at them as violators of the law, and the law will take its own course. That’s why we have started taking action,” Mundhe said in an interview with NDTV.The notices were issued on August 11, giving the three actors 15 days to submit their responses. According to Mundhe, two actors replied to the notices, while one did not. He did not disclose their identities.“We have taken this action as per the law,” he said.“In one case where they have not responded, we are starting the adjudicating and prosecution proceedings,” Mundhe added.The two actors who responded reportedly argued that the responsibility should lie with the manufacturer. Mundhe said their submissions will be considered during the hearing before the FDA takes further action.“We are giving them a hearing. My officer, the assistant commissioner who issued the notices, will be giving the hearing,” he said.When asked specifically if Shah Rukh Khan’s team had submitted a response, Mundhe said, “Most likely he has not responded, but I’m not too sure about it.”Mundhe also rejected the argument that celebrities endorsing a product cannot be held responsible because the manufacturer is ultimately behind it. He pointed to advertising provisions under the Food Safety Act, which, according to him, place specific responsibilities on advertisers.“There are clearly advertising regulations as per the Food Safety Act. [The regulations] talk about who the advertiser is, and there is a responsibility very specifically cast upon the person or institution who is advertising. There is a responsibility cast upon the person who is advertising it, including to take due diligence about what he or she is endorsing. To say that it is not upon them is wrong… Not only morally, but legally I’m talking about, because I am here as a regulator,” he said.Shah Rukh Khan has previously spoken about his decision to endorse products that are legally available for sale. During an interview with CNN-IBN, journalist Karan Thapar had questioned the actor about celebrities promoting products considered unhealthy. Khan had said, “I would appeal to any authority to ban it; don’t let it be sold in our country. If smoking is bad, stop the production of cigarettes. If you think soft drinks are bad, don’t allow them to be made. My logic is you’re not stopping them because they bring in revenue. You’re not stopping certain products because they’re revenue sources for the government. Then don’t stop my revenue. I’m an actor. I’m supposed to do a job and earn from it. And very clearly, if you think something is wrong, stop it. Stop making it.”Ajay Devgn, who has been associated with Vimal campaigns for several years, had also addressed the criticism surrounding his endorsement in 2022. Defending his association with the brand, the actor had said he was promoting elaichi and not pan masala.“It is a personal choice. When you do something, you also see how harmful it would be. Some things are harmful, some are not. I would say it without naming it because I don’t want to promote it; I was doing elaichi. What I feel is that, more than advertisements, if certain things are so wrong, then they should not be sold,” he had told SCREEN.Akshay Kumar was previously part of the Vimal Elaichi campaign alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn in 2022. Following the backlash, Kumar apologised and announced that he was stepping away from the brand. He also said that he would donate the money he received as his endorsement fee to a cause. Tiger Shroff subsequently joined the campaign in his place.The legal proceedings also saw a development on September 14, when the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition filed by PB Agro LLP, the master licensee for Vimal Elaichi. The company had approached the court seeking to quash the notices issued to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff.Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma held that the Delhi High Court did not have territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter, as the notices had been issued by the Maharashtra FDA in Mumbai.
