The central legal point established in the judgment is that the use of the words 'pure', 'crisp', 'refreshing', 'purified', and 'purity GUARANTEED' on a label pertaining to packaged drinking water does not offend any provisions of law.

VIKRAMAJIT SEN, J.

( 1 ) ARGUMENTS have been addressed in great detail, justifying the final disposal of the writ petition. The Petitioner has challenged the decision of the Bureau of Indian Standards, Respondent No. 1 (`bureau for brevity) inter alia calling upon the Petitioner to discontinue the use of the label reproduced below. It has been clarified on behalf of the Respondents that whilst the bureau has no objection to the use of brand names which have been registered with the Trade Marks Registry, the use of words ?purity GUARANTEED? and the depiction of mountains on top of the trade-mark `aquafina on labels of packaged Drinking Water is deliberately misleading and should be removed. The contention of the Bureau is that it is entitled to withdraw its licence i. e. permission to use the ISI logo or Standard Mark as defined in Section 2 (t) of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as the BIS act) thereby depicting compliance with standards laid down by Bureau. This cancellation of the licence would be without prejudice to any prosecution under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (`pfa Act for short ).

( 2 ) THIS is the label which is at the centre of the controversy.

( 3 ) THE contention of the Petitioner is that the words pure , crisp , refreshing , purified and purity GUARANTEED does not contravene the expectations of the law and merely convey their ordinary meaning to ordinary citizens. The Petitioner had been coerced into giving up the use of the words pure , crisp and refreshing in order to avoid litigation. However, the continued objection of the Bureau pertaining to the use of the words purity GUARANTEED has left the Petitioners with no option but to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court. It has been asseverated that the petitioner employs and uses state-of-the-art technology, including the reverse osmosis process of purification in the manufacture of `aquafina Packaged drinking Water. It has not been controverted that the Petitioner s artistic work/device has been granted registration in several countries across the globe.

( 4 ) IT can certainly be argued that the artwork on the label depicts ice-clad mountains with a rising sun in the background. It is also possible that, given the aggressive advertising assault and hype on the salubrious quality of minerally enriched mountain-water, the educated upper classes and the upwardly-mobile members of the society may visualize that aquafina is drawn from high altitude regions. However, if such people are so easily fooled into believing that the water which they are purchasing comes from such pristine and cool climes, they have only themselves to blame for their gullibility. The label clearly states that the product is packaged drinking water in contradistinction to mineral water . It may be immediately highlighted that purity of mineral water drawn from the mountains is neither guaranteed nor controlled to the same extent as packaged drinking water. Obviously, mountain mineral water would have some impurities in it along with the wealth of minerals that it reputedly contains. While deciding controversies such as the present one there is a tendency to get lost in the labyrinth of legal provisions, in semantic discussions on the sundry shades of the meanings of words which are otherwise of common parlance. Instead, the scope of enquiry should be towards ascertaining the mental image that a common man, with ordinary knowledge and average intelligence would develop on seeing the label or the artistic work.

( 5 ) THE powers of the Bureau have been enumerated in Section 10 of the BIS Act to include making such inspection and taking such samples of any material or substance as may be necessary to see whether any article or process in relation to which the Standard Mark has been used conforms to the Indian standard or whether the Standard Mark has been improperly used in relation to any article or process with or

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