New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) Hindustan Unilever Limited assured the Delhi High Court on Thursday that it will remove the alleged disparaging references to its competitor, Honasa Consumer Limited (HCL), from its Lakme sunscreen advertisements.

In a related development, during the hearing of a separate suit filed by HUL against The Derma Co, both parties said they had agreed to remove their respective contentious advertisements as an interim arrangement.

Following this, a truce is expected between the two FMCG companies — HUL and HCL — triggered earlier this week, in which the high courts of Delhi and Bombay were engaged.

Hearing a lawsuit filed by HCL’s brand Derma Co sunscreen, Justice Amit Bansal of the Delhi High Court asked HUL to ensure that the advertisements and hoardings in the present form were discontinued in a time-bound manner.

“You discontinue the ad from today. You show that it is in the spirit of settlement. You cannot prolong the removal…. Online (ads) can go within 24 hours,” the judge told the HUL’s counsel.

Honasa Consumer moved the Delhi High Court against HUL’s campaign alleging that while making a reference to the former’s “online bestseller” product the defendant claimed it was not offering SPF (sun protection factor) 50.

“You cannot call my product bad on the basis of a one-page executive summary (of a test report), which is inherently contentious…To say my product is actually SPF 20 and I am misrepresenting to the public every day (is not acceptable),” said the plaintiff’s counsel.

After the court asked if the advertisements could be taken down, the defendant said it would remove the contentious references.

In view of the settlement, the parties agreed to not press at this stage the lawsuit filed by HUL in Bombay High Court, which is scheduled for hearing on Tuesday.

The Delhi High Court would hear the case on April 21, after the defendant’s counsel said they would file an affidavit in relation to their proposed changes.

HUL had denied making any disparaging reference to The Derma Co and said it had laboratory reports to substantiate its claims.

It had also filed a lawsuit before the Bombay High Court against the comments by Honasa Consumer Co-founder Ghazal Alagh in a LinkedIn post and some others.

Referring to Lakme’s Sunscreen ad by HUL, Alagh has alleged “lacked good competition” for a long time, leading to large traditional brands becoming complacent.

At the Bombay High Court, as HUL’s suit came up for hearing before Justice Arif Doctor, both sides said they had agreed, as an interim arrangement, to take down their advertisements within 24 hours and hoardings within 48 hours, said HUL lawyer Hiren Kamod.

HUL contended in its suit that a recent Derma Co billboard took direct aim at Lakme, and demanded Rs 105 crore in damages from Honasa.

“The said advertisements seek to falsely portray to the consumers and the public at large that Lakme sunscreen products have not, until recently, been tested for SPF efficacy using standard methods,” the suit said.

The advertisement claimed the earlier methods adopted by Lakme to certify its products were faulty, sub-standard and inaccurate, it added.

Such advertisements falsely claim that Derma Co. sunscreen brand is leading the way, thereby implying that the Lakme Sun Expert range of products until recently have not been safe for the consumers,” it added.

The matter is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday at the Bombay High Court, a day after the parties submit their compliance with the directions issued by the Delhi High Court. The court may pass an order after documenting the settlement and confirming the parties’ compliance.

Leading FMCG company HUL, in its statement, said it respected the outcome of the proceedings.

“We respect the outcome to continue with our Sun Superiority Campaign with some modifications,” said HUL adding this ad demonstrates the pivotal need for raising awareness around SPF efficacy, transparency, and accountability in the sun care category, keeping consumer interest and safety at the core.

“Lakme has been conducting SPF efficacy and safety tests for over a decade, grounded in globally accepted scientific protocols. We have always believed in the power of science to inform product innovation and protect consumer interests,” HUL said in the statement.

“This campaign is part of Lakme’s broader commitment to set a new benchmark for sun protection standards in India,” the FMCG company said.

Honasa Consumer, in a separate statement, said the matter came to a conclusion when HUL undertook that they will remove the ongoing sunscreen ad campaign and modify it.

“The modification will include but not be limited to removing the term ‘online bestseller’ and will change the colour of the packaging shown in the ad,” said Honasa Consumer, which owns brands like Mamaearth and The Derma Co. PTI ADS AVI AMK KRK KRH RC