Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Tiger Shroff get notice over pan masala ad

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jaipur II, also issued a similar notice to Vimal Kumar Agarwal, chairman of JB Industries which manufactures Vimal Pan Masala.

All parties have been asked to appear before the commission on March 19.

"The hearing date has been fixed at 10am. If you fail to appear in person or through your authorised representative, the complaint will be decided ex parte on the above mentioned hearing date," the notice said.

The commission also directed all the actors and the pan masala manufacturing company to file their responses within 30 days from the day of receipt of the notice.

The notice was issued based on a complaint by Jaipur-based advocate Yogendra Singh Badiyal, who claimed the advertisement says "daane daane mein hai kesar ka dum (every grain of the said pan masala has the power of saffron)".

Due to this, "applicant number one (JB Industries) is making crores of rupees and the common people are regularly consuming the pan masala which is harmful for health and inviting serious diseases like cancer," he said.

The lawyer said the public is being lured to buy Vimal Pan Masala "in the name of saffron-containing gutkha".

"Common people are getting confused in the name of saffron while there is no mixture of any substance like saffron in the said product," he said.

The price of saffron in the market is Rs 4 lakh per kg and the pan masala costs only Rs 5, he said. "The saffron cannot be mixed, leave alone its fragrance," he added.