In a criminal case that was filed against Hindustan Unilever and its office bearers in the alleged misbranding case of ‘Red Label Natural Care Tea’, Calcutta High Court on Wednesday acquitted the accused.
By definition, misbranding is to brand falsely or in a misleading manner.
A food inspector of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation had filed a criminal case against the personal care product company and its office bearers for the misbranding of its tea brand.
The court noted that during the trial, the prosecution never stated the reason for the company misbranding the tea product.
This ultimately paved the way for the company being acquitted of the charges.
Hindustan Unilever was accused to have violated Section 38 and Section 39 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, as put down by a media report. The former restricts the usage of any reference to the Act, rules etc on the product label.
The latter prohibits the use of words like ‘recommended by the medical profession’.
It was in the year 2014 when the office bearers of Hindustan Unilever was convicted by the municipal magistrate for the misbranding of the product. They were sentenced to a simple imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000.
However, the conviction was kept at the side by a Kolkata based sessions court. But, the case was brought back to the municipal magistrate to further consider the matter.