'Misleading Ad' Case: NCDRC Stays District Commission Proceedings Over Forensic Examination Of Actor Salman Khan's Signatures
In temporary respite for Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on Wednesday (June 10) stayed the proceedings initiated against him in a case related to "misleading" Pan Masala advertisement, regarding genuineness of his signatures. The NCDRC coram comprising of Justice (retd) AP Sahi, President and Member Bharatkumar Pandya stayed the...
In temporary respite for Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on Wednesday (June 10) stayed the proceedings initiated against him in a case related to "misleading" Pan Masala advertisement, regarding genuineness of his signatures.
The NCDRC coram comprising of Justice (retd) AP Sahi, President and Member Bharatkumar Pandya stayed the proceedings ongoing before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) at Kota.
Issuing notice to the respondents the court said, "Subject to any further orders being passed, further proceedings before the District Commission shall be stayed".
This comes after Kamla Kant and Company challenged the orders passed by the Rajasthan State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (RSCDRC), which refused to interfere with the December 2025 order passed by the DCDRC Kota.
Notably, the Kota DCDRC had ordered Khan to personally appear before it and had also ordered forensic examination of the genuineness of his signatures put on the power of attorney submitted on his behalf.
For context, one Indra Mohan Singh 'Honey' had initially filed a complaint before the Kota DCDRC alleging misleading ads pertaining to the product labelled as Rajshree Pan Masala. The lawyer alleged that Khan endorsed the product stating it to comprise 'silver coated saffron-infused cardamom' at a rate of Rs 5.
However, the lawyer contended that saffron costs around Rs 4 lakh per kg and thus providing saffron in the pan masala at a rate of Rs 5 was impossible and thus was misleading the public. He argued that Khan actually endorsed 'gutka' which risked the lives of the consumers.
At the initial stage, the complainant claimed that the signatures put up on the power of attorney in behalf of Khan did not match the ones which he earlier signed in other court documents. He claimed that the signature on the power of attorney differed with the signature he had put on the documents in the Jodhpur Jail and also the Jodhpur court.
Therefore, the Kota DCDRC had ordered forensic examination of Khan's signatures.
This very order was challenged before the RSCDRC, however, the challenge was rejected, prompting manufacturing company to approach the NCDRC.
Before the NCDRC, the legal team represent the company and Khan highlighted the manner in which the Kota DCDRC have been dealing with the case. It was pointed out that the Kota DCDRC instead of first examining the issue of maintainability of the complaint, ordered forensic test of the signature and later said that the maintainability has been decided.
In its June 10 order, the NCDRC took note of all the developments in the case, till date and adjourned the hearing to consider the issue of maintainability of the complaint on June 22.
Appearance:
Advocates Varun Singh, Shikher Upadhyay, Utkarsha Sahu and Prerna Priya appeared for the Company.
Advocates Parag Khandhar, Chandrima Mitra, Tapan Radkar and Zara Dhanbhoora instructed by DSK Legal represented Salman Khan.
Case Title: Kamla Kant & Company LLP vs Indra Mohan Singh 'Honey'
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