NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has
directed Pepsi to remove the picture of a snow-capped mountain from its packaged
water product Aquafina, saying it gives a misleading impression to the
consumers.
"We direct Pepsi to remove pictorial device snow capped
mountain from label of Aquafina within six months and also add the phrase 'as
per BIS standard' to its label with the phrase 'purity guaranteed'," said a
bench comprising Justices Mukul Mudgal and Manmohan.
"The pictorial
device suggests that the packaged mineral water being manufactured and marketed
by the company has its origin in the mountain which creates a misleading
impression in the minds of the purchasing public," the bench said.
"The connotation of snow-capped mountain does clearly indicate the
origin of the water to be from mountain regions. (This) representation is
indisputably not correct and would amount to conveying a misleading impression
to the buyers that the product is mineral and not packaged drinking water," the
court said.
"As the certification available to the company is of
packaged drinking water and not packaged mineral water, the pictorial device
snow-capped mountain can cause confusion in the mind of the purchasing public
about the source and origin of such water," the court said.
The
court passed the direction on a petition filed by Bureau of Indian Standard
(BIS) challenging a single bench order of the court, which had allowed the
company to use the mountain picture on its product.