Amazon India ordered to take down Rooh Afza manufactured in Pakistan

• People in India have been consuming Rooh Afza for over 100 years.
• Seller on India's Amazon selling Pakistan manufactured Rooh Afza.
• Hamdard National Foundation is Indian manufacturer of drink.

Hamdard National Foundation, the Indian manufacturer of Rooh Afza, filed a case saying Pakistan-manufactured Rooh Afza was being sold in India through Amazon after which the Delhi High Court asked the e-commerce site to remove the listings, reported the Indian Express.

Rooh Afza is a famed drink that people in India have been consuming for over 100 years now. The court found it surprising that its imported version was being sold on Amazon, that too without disclosure of the manufacturer's details.

Justice Prathiba M Singh ordered the removal of the "listings of infringing ‘Rooh Afza’ products" from http://www.amazon.in within 48 hours on Wednesday.

First introduced by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed in Delhi over a century ago, Rooh Afza got divided after the partition when Hakim's elder son moved to India and the younger chose Pakistan. 

Right now, Hamdard National Foundation has the rights over the drink in India and in Pakistan Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) manufactures it.

Hamdard National Foundation spotted sellers listing Rooh Afza last year as well and many were sent notices as a result.

Recently, the Rooh Afza bottles being sold in India on Amazon were found to be manufactured in Pakistan, which is illegal.

The "Visit the Hamdard Store" option provided next to the products takes the buyers to the webpage of Hamdard Laboratories India. This can confuse people and imply that the companies in Pakistan and India are connected in some way.

The court also said that Amazon should disclose seller names as the e-commerce giant claims to be an intermediary.