Indian court orders permanent removal of Pakistan’s Rooh Afza from Amazon India

On Tuesday, an Indian court mandated that Amazon remove the popular Sharbat Rooh Afza made in Pakistan from its site in India.

The Delhi High Court issued the orders that permanently prohibit e-commerce giant Amazon from offering Pakistani-produced Rooh Afza, the well-known Indian sherbet, on its website.

The court's decision was a relief for the drink's Indian maker, Hamdard National Foundation, which had asked the court to stop several Rooh Afza varieties from being listed on Amazon India.

The India-based Hamdard National Foundation claimed in court that it was engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling various Unani and Ayurvedic medicines, oils, syrups and non-alcoholic beverages including Rooh Afza, and that a company ‘Golden Leaf’ was selling products under the ‘Rooh Afza’ trademark on Amazon India which were not sold by them.

Upon purchasing it, Hamdard submitted that “to their utter shock” they realised the product was manufactured in Pakistan.

During a hearing on September 5, the high court directed the e-commerce site to remove the drink manufactured by a Pakistani company under the name “Rooh Afza” from its listings for Indian customers.