Abhijeet Bhansali recommended against using Parachute in his video

Review said Parachute coconut oil was inferior to organic cold pressed oils; Marico alleges it was slanderous and was done at the behest of competitors.Will posting remarks against an otherwise well-known product on social media or a famous video sharing website come under the right to freedom of speech and expression, or will it be subject to reasonable restrictions? The Bombay High Court is likely to decide on the issue for the first time.Marico Limited, one of the leading consumer products companies in the country, has dragged a YouTuber Abhijeet Bhansali—who goes by Bearded Chokra online—to court for posting a video criticising one of their high sales product, Parachute coconut oil.In a review video posted on September 1 last year, Bhansali said the product was of inferior quality in comparison with “other organic cold pressed coconut oils.” He performed certain tests in the video—keeping the product and the organic oils in a refrigerator and comparing their colours/purity. He then recommended against using Parachute oil on the hair, the skin, or for raw consumption. He, however, said it was fine to use it for cooking purposes.According to the suit filed by Marico, the company learnt of the video last month and sent a notice to Bhansali seeking its removal on the grounds that it was “disparaging”. It said Bhansali had indulged in slander of the product, which to amounting to committing “injurious falsehood by maliciously producing and producing audio visuals/videos which are misleading, false and baseless.” The suit said this further amounted to “denigrating the goods of Marico”.Bhansali, in response, invoked the right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.During a hearing of the case on Wednesday, Bhansali’s lawyers Abhinav Chandrachud and Nainesh Amin, defended Bhansali’s action and sought to contest Marico’s case.Marico’s lawyers Hiren Kamod and Nishad Nadkarni of Khaitan and Co, sought directions from the court to pull down the video. Justice SJ Kathawalla, however, decided that the case be heard in detail and a final order on the point of interim relief be passed.Giving various details about the product, Marico’s suit said the company started manufacturing it in the last 1940s and the product has since gained “impeccable reputation and goodwill and is well-known for its quality”. It claimed that Parachute commands a market share of close to 47 per cent, with sales of over Rs 1,700 crore in the last year.It then criticised Bhansali’s video, saying there is absolutely no problem with the product, and that it is made from the “finest grades of coconut available”. It added that the oil is not inferior to other cold pressed oils. The suit called the test conducted in the video as misleading, done at behest of its competitors, and to maximise revenue by Bhansali.Bhansali’s channel has over 1 lakh followers and this particular video has been viewed over 1.10 lakh times. In his reply, Bhansali said he holds a Master’s degree in biotechnology, and has worked an intern with Bhabha atomic Research Centre He said he has posted over 240 videos so far, a sizeable number of which include reviews of various products of various companies. On the issue of posting a video on coconut oil, the reply said in the recent past, there had been a lot of debate on whether the use of coconut oil is healthy or notApart from that, it said he had conducted his own test on video, and narrated the results based on that.He refuted that he performed the test at the behest of any competitor or to denigrate the specific product.