The Animal Welfare Board of India has issued a legal notice to Johnson & Johnson for allegedly violating laws governing use of animals in advertisements and, more seriously, for allegedly using a forged permit to shoot soap commercials that featured a dog, two sparrows and three cockatoos.

The board says the no-objection certificate used by J&J in featuring the animals for a TV commercial for Savlon soap “is a forged and fabricated one.” The legal notice says that the certificate, based on which the TV commercial was made, “is not true, genuine made or authored” by the Welfare Board.

R. Balasubramanian, former secretary of the Animal Welfare Board whose signature shows up on the allegedly forged certificate, wrote the board that “the signature appears to be forged…I request you to investigate the matter thoroughly and bring the culprits to book.” Balasubramanian is now assistant commissioner of department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries.

The Welfare Board is seeking a fine from J&J, which confirmed it received the notice on Wednesday. The same notice was issued to Classics Films, the firm that made the Savlon commercial for J&J. Under the Performing Animals Registration Rules 2001, it is mandatory for all companies to pay Rs500 and secure a no-objection certificate from the Welfare Board prior to using live animals in an advertisement.

A spokesperson for J&J would only say that the company is “looking into the matter.” Classics Films, however, insisted all requisite clearances were obtained despite the commercial being filmed outside India. “The commercial was shot in Malaysia,” notes Prashant Sampat, executive producer for Classics Films. “The permission was taken only to be on a safer side.” But he says the animals came from Shankar Narayanan who, Sampat said, provided animals for both the advertising and the film industries. “He obtained the permission for us,” maintained Sampat. “So the alleged forgery - if any - is committed by him.”

Meanwhile, Classic Films is now “seeking legal advice on the matter,” Sampat adds. Narayanan couldn’t immediately be located for comment or to verify what Classic Films said about the no-objection certificate.

Amid the dogfight and the finger-pointing, “the onus is on Classic Films as well as Johnson & Johnson” to take the no-objection certificate from us, says Major General R.M. Kharb, chairman of the Animal Welfare Board. One of the give-aways that led the Welfare Board to suspect “serious foulplay” was because the copy of the certificate was dated Jan. 7, which falls on a Sunday, when the board’s offices are normally closed.

“My client’s office has caused a thorough search, scrutiny of the board records, connected files, registers etc., and it was found that they have not received from you the prescribed application seeking ‘no-objection certificate’, and neither they have received from you the prescribed fee of Rs500,” wrote Sundaram in the legal notice.

“Animals are vulnerable and defenseless beings,” says N.G. Jayasimha, campaigns manager for People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, the activist animal welfare group. “It is imperative that no one flouts laws that are made to protect them. Already, animals suffer so much in the ad and film industries. The least that the industry should do is ensure that the Performing Animals Registration Rules are followed in the true spirit of the law.”

Jayasimha said that even if a film or ad is shot overseas, the Welfare Board’s permission is required for airing it within India. There have been instances where firms have used animals for shooting without prior permission, says Jayasimha. “But we have never come across of an instance where the certificates were forged.”

Source: livemint.com