# Maharashtra FDA warns no one spared in celebrity ad probe

2026-08-17T16:54:13+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 1 independent outlet (2 source reports)

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said the agency will not spare anyone found violating food safety regulations, after issuing show-cause notices to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over a Vimal Elaichi advertisement. The FDA alleges the campaign is a surrogate promotion of prohibited pan masala or tobacco products. "Everybody across the chain is responsible. It applies to all. Nobody is going to be spared," Mundhe told PTI. The notices, issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, ask the actors to immediately stop participating in the ad and remove related content from social media. Mundhe said the company had been found selling gutkha earlier, and a prohibition on gutkha and pan masala has been in place in Maharashtra since 2012. The FDA is also considering invoking organised crime law provisions. The regulation on misleading advertisements and claims has been in force since July 1, 2019. Separately, the Maharashtra FDA suspended licences of Parle Agro and several facilities linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart after inspections found expired stock and hygiene violations. It inspected 86 establishments on August 13, issuing 60 improvement notices and ordering one temporary closure.

## Coverage

- hindustantimes.com <https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tukaram-mundhe-after-maharashtra-fda-notices-to-srk-ajay-devgn-over-vimal-ad-nobody-will-be-spared-101786976446288.html>
- hindustantimes.com (2) <https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/tukaram-mundhe-defends-action-against-celebrities-endorsing-surrogate-products-shah-rukh-khan-ajay-devgn-tiger-shroff-101786982895567.html>

This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-17T18:40:55+00:00.

Tags: Ajay Devgn, FSSAI, Maharashtra FDA, Shah Rukh Khan, Tukaram Mundhe, Vimal
Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/maharashtra-fda-warns-srk-ajay-devgn-over-vimal-ad/
License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources.
Cite: https://indianopinion.org/maharashtra-fda-warns-srk-ajay-devgn-over-vimal-ad/#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/
