Many unusual topics have piqued the interest of the Indian judiciary in recent times. In the latest, a Supreme Court bench decided to delve into the conflict of whether ‘Nimbooz’ is lemonade or a fruit pulp/juice-based drink. Once the Supreme Court rules on the drink’s legality, the exact amount of excise duty to be levied on it will be determined. The case has been ongoing since March 2015.
The case was brought before the bench led by Justice MR Shah and Justice BV Nagarathna by a company called Aradhana Foods, who wanted the drink to be classified as lemonade rather than the current status of fruit pulp or fruit juice-based drink. The case was essentially filed to determine the excise duty amount, which would ultimately be determined by the category of the drink.
Previously, Justice Dilip Gupta and P Venkata Subba Rao classified Nimbooz as a fruit juice-based beverage. As a result, the drink was subject to tariff Item 2022 90 20 of the Central Excise Tariff and was asked to accordingly pay the duty from February 2009 to December 2013 as lemonade.
“The product ‘Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh’ (hereinafter referred to as MMNF) manufactured by Brindavan Beverages Private Limited, and 7UP Nimbooz Masala Soda’ or 7UPNimbooz’ manufactured by PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited are classifiable under Tariff Item 2022 90 20 of the Central Excise Tariff Schedule under the category of fruit pulp or fruit juice-based drinks,” Justice Dilip Gupta and P Venkata Subba Rao had said in their statement earlier while classifying the drink launched by the multinational company Pepsico in 2013 as a fruit juice-based beverage.
Now, overruling the previous order, the SC bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice BV Nagarathna said, “In view of the aforesaid order of the Larger Bench of the Tribunal, ‘Nimbooz’ would be classifiable under CETH 2022 10 20 of the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act,” due to which the bench decided to consider the appeal filed by Aradhana Foods.”
PepsiCo first introduced ‘Nimbooz’ in 2013. The popular drink has been described as a product made entirely of real lemon juice and containing no fizz. The description sparked a debate about its category, with some questioning Nimbooz’s status as a lemonade or fruit juice/fruit pulp-based juice.
‘Chur Chur Naan’, sandals and reasons behind extra-marital affairs…the bizarre topics that have piqued the interest of Indian judiciary
Interestingly, prior to this, the Indian judiciary was also seen focusing on such strange subjects. The Delhi High Court heard a case involving trademark infringement over the name of a Naan dish in 2019. The court then ruled that the terms ‘Chur Chur Naan’ and ‘Amritsari Chur Chur Naan’ cannot be monopolised because they are “completely generic.”
Besides that, the Delhi High Court had in the past shown a lot of interest in defining the terms “sandals” and “chappals.” Similarly, the Indian judiciary was also seen shifting its focus to determining what motivates people to engage in extramarital affairs.
A bench of the Madras High Court in March 2019 had asked a set of twenty questions to Central and State Governments, to ‘find out’ the reasons as to why people resort to illicit relationships despite being married.
In another bizarre incident, the Bombay High Court had last year lashed out at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for its faulty online approval process for goat slaughter on Eid after a person named ‘Neil Armstrong’ had obtained permission to slaughter 5 goats inside one of their own courtrooms.
