# Maharashtra FDA chief defends Vimal ad notices to SRK, Ajay Devgn 2026-08-26T12:58:50+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has defended show-cause notices issued to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over advertisements for Vimal Elaichi. Hindustan Times reports Mundhe cited the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, stating the ads amount to surrogate promotion of prohibited pan masala and tobacco products. He said the regulation casts equal responsibility on advertisers and promoters, and the action is not his personal discretion but based on existing rules. The Economic Times reports Mundhe said on Wednesday that the FDA has not yet received a response from the three actors. The notice, issued on August 11, gave them 15 days to reply. Mundhe said at a Mumbai Press Club event that promoting a product is not wrong but publicizing it improperly is. The FDA has warned of fines up to Rs 10 lakh and possible action under the FSSAI Act if replies are unsatisfactory. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both Hindustan Times and The Economic Times report the story as straight news, with no discernible slant. The coverage is uniform: Mundhe's regulatory justification is presented without opposition criticism or praise. Neither outlet adds editorial comment. The balanced reading is that the FDA is enforcing existing law uniformly, but the practical test will be the actors' response and any subsequent legal challenge to the surrogate ad rule. The next milestone is the end of the 15-day reply period from the August 11 notice. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - hindustantimes.com (neutral report) Reports Mundhe's defence without critical framing, focusing on his explanation of the 2018 regulation. - economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Leads with no reply received yet, factual update on the notice status. This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-26T15:11:24+00:00. Tags: Ajay Devgn, FSSAI, Maharashtra FDA, Shah Rukh Khan, Tukaram Mundhe, Vimal Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/maharashtra-fda-chief-tukaram-mundhe-defends-vimal-ad-notices-to-srk-ajay-devgn/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/maharashtra-fda-chief-tukaram-mundhe-defends-vimal-ad-notices-to-srk-ajay-devgn/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/