NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: The CEO of Hamdard Laboratories in India on Thursday welcomed a decision by the Delhi High Court to “permanently restrain” retailers on Amazon India from selling Rooh Afza that is made in Pakistan.
The concentrated fruit squash was first sold in Delhi by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed in 1907. After the partition of British India in 1947, one of his sons set up Hamdard National Foundation, India and another Hamdard Laboratories, Pakistan. They each manufactured Rooh Afza and the trademark was registered in both countries.
The high court issued its verdict in September after the product’s owner in India filed a lawsuit claiming products listed as Rooh Afza on Amazon.in were not manufactured in the country.
Hamdard India CEO Hamid Ahmed told Arab News that the ruling would “safeguard local business” and protect against illegal imports.
“Basically, whoever has got the trademark in a particular country Amazon can sell only those products,” he said.
A representative for Hamdard Pakistan said on Wednesday that the company was “never involved” in any business with India as “that is neither our domain nor do we sell our products in that country.”
“Hamdard Pakistan has got nothing to do with the ban on Rooh Afza in India as the company does not export its product to that country,” Faiz Ullah Jawad, the company’s marketing and business development director, told Arab News.
“Some individuals sell our product on different e-commerce platforms … We don’t even know who these sellers are who have been banned from selling Rooh Afza in India.”
The court’s ruling would have “zero impact” on Hamdard Pakistan’ international business, he said.
