Gillette India has come under fire for having missed the deadline for filing a rejoinder in the Reckitt Benckiser defamatory advert court case, with judge Justice GS Patel rescheduling the next hearing on 3 November, 2020.

Gillette India is suing Reckitt Benckiser for a defamatory advert, with Patel citing that the company showed that there was ‘not the slightest urgency’ from the company due to the missed rejoinder deadline, and as such set a hearing date in three years’ time.

Patel, who is known for his quick wit, said the next hearing is ‘very low on the board’ and has penalised Gillette for wasting ‘scare judicial time’. He stated he would not entertain a request for a priority hearing unless Gillette paid a deposit of R10 lakh for costs, to cover “a potential order for costs for this attempt to consume scarce judicial time in a battle over advertisements of rival depilation products for women.”

Suit No305 was filed by Gillette on 22 December 2016 regarding Reckitt Benckiser’s advertisements on women’s depilation products.