Uttar Pradesh Consumer Court Fines Film Stars Govinda, Jackie Shroff For Endorsing Ineffective Pain Relief Oil

A consumer court in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar has imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on actors Govinda and Jackie Shroff for endorsing a brand of herbal pain relief oil.

The company producing the so called pain relief herbal oil has also been fined.

The court verdict was delivered in response to a complaint filed by a youth five years ago against a herbal oil company and its two celebrity brand ambassadors.

The complainant had alleged that the oil endorsed by the actors did not provide pain relief in 15 days as claimed in the advertisement.

In July 2012, Abhinav Agarwal, a Muzaffarnagar-based lawyer had ordered a pain relief oil for his father Brijbhushan Agarwal, 70, for Rs 3,600 after reading an advertisement in the newspaper that promised full refund if the user fails to get visible results in 15 days.

When there was no relief from pain even after 10 days, Agarwal contacted a representative of the Madhya Pradesh-based company who advised him to return the product for processing the refund. However, the company failed to refund the amount and even started harassing Agarwal when he contacted them again.

"I bought the product because celebrities like Govinda and Jackie Shroff were promoting it. The company promised complete relief in 15 days. Everything turned out to be a fraud," said Abhinav who then had lodged a complaint with the consumer court.

The consumer court has ordered all five stakeholders, namely the herbal oil company, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Telemart Shopping Network Pvt Limited and Max Communications, to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation to the complainant.

The court also ordered the company to return Rs 3,600 paid by Agarwal with an interest of 9 per cent per annum along with other legal expenses.