Delhi High Court Rejects Colgate Plea To Amend Suit Against Dabur Over Fluoride Ads

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, in an order dated January 12, 2026, clarified that Colgate's 2019 plaint contains detailed allegations accusing Dabur of spreading misleading information and disparaging fluoride as an ingredient in toothpaste. Therefore, the Court held that there was no legal requirement to amend the plaint each time a new version of the advertisement was released.

Colgate had sought to amend its plaint to specifically challenge Dabur's advertisements published in March and April 2025, which allegedly portrayed fluoride-based toothpaste as harmful. It linked fluoride to health concerns such as reduced IQ in children, brittle bones, and dental fluorosis. Colgate argued that the advertisements amounted to disparagement of an entire category of fluoride toothpaste and were scientifically unfounded.

Dabur opposed the plea, submitting that the original suit was confined to issues arising from a 2019 television commercial concerning packaging similarities. It further argued that permitting amendments after nearly six years would delay the trial and alter the nature of the dispute. Dabur maintained that its advertisements merely cautioned against excessive fluoride consumption and were supported by scientific research.

After examining the record, the court found that the issue of fluoride-related disparagement was already pleaded in Colgate's original plaint.

“Since this Court has come to a conclusion that the issue of disparagement of FLUORIDE as an ingredient in toothpaste is already pleaded in the original plaint and is an issue arising for consideration, this Court finds that there is no legal necessity for the Plaintiffs to amend the plaint in order to maintain their challenge to the impugned advertisements of 2025,” the Court said.

The court observed that allowing repeated amendments in such cases would lead to endless delays and undermine the objective of speedy adjudication under commercial law.

The matter will next be listed on January 14, 2026.

Case Title: Colgate Palmolive Company & Anr v. Dabur India Ltd.

Citation: 2026 LLBiz HC (DEL) 38

Case Number: CS(COMM) 567/2019

For Plaintiffs: Senior Advocate Amit Sibal with Advocates Saif Khan, Achuthan Sreekumar, Rohil Bansal and Smriti Nair

For Defendant: Senior Advocate. Sandeep Sethi with Advocate Manish Kumar Mishra, Jawahar Lal, Akansha Singh, Saransh Saini, Meghna Kumar and Riya Kumar