In a dramatic turn of events, on November 25, when a hearing was scheduled,the counsel for the defendant approached the Justice Divecha bench withcertain documents -- which are currently not in the public domain. Followingthe perusal of the documents, Justice Divecha issued an oral order on thespot, for a new bench be constituted -- and of which he, surprisingly, wouldnot be a member. According to the November 25, 1999 order: ``The matter willbe heard by another bench of which the chairman is not a member.''

Justice Divecha had been hearing the case since the notice of enquiry wasissued against Enkay Texofood on September 16, 1999.

The new Division Bench comprises members 2 and 4 of the Commission -- R K Anandand Moksha Mahajan. The next date of hearing has been fixed for December 13,when the application for vacation of the ex parte ad interim order ofOctober 29, 1999, will be heard.

The ex parte ad interim order had ``restrained the respondent from marketingits product of kinnow juice, by representing it as orange juice as also byrepresenting it as natural orange juice and as orange juice made from thefinest oranges from America.''

It may be recalled that the MRTPC had issued a notice of enquiry onSeptember 16, 1999, on a complaint filed by the Director General ofInvestigation and Registration (DGIR). The DGIR's case followed a complaintby a consumer, Uma Shankar Mishra of Ghaziabad, charging that Enkay Texofoodwas indulging in deceptive and unfair trade practices by misleadingconsumers regarding its `natural orange juice.'

The main allegations against the company are that while it claimed thatOnjus was a natural orange juice, it contained kinnow juice, besides addedpreservatives, sweetners and beta carotene colour. Onjus was the marketleader in natural fruit juices and claims it had a 79 per cent market share.The main competition it faced was from Dabur's Real fruit juices, and fromforeign brands like Tropicana.