The Supreme Court on Tuesday, February 27, passed an interim order imposing a ban on advertisements of self-styled yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved brand of medicines. Coming down heavily on Ramdev for publishing misleading advertisements despite being rebuked by the court earlier, the apex court bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah issued a contempt of court notice to Patanjali’s founders Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.
The court was hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev and his company against the COVID-19 vaccination drive and modern medicine.
“You had the courage and guts to come up with this advertisement after the order of this Court! And then you come up with this advertisement. Permanent relief, what do you mean by permanent relief? Is it a cure?... we are going to pass a very, very strict order. You are tempting the Court,” Justice Amanullah said, according to Livelaw.
While the court initially proposed a blanket ban on Patanjali’s advertisements, the company’s counsel Vipin Sanghi said that the decision would affect its commercial operations. The court then said that the ban would apply to products related to diseases specified under the Act.
The court also criticised the Union government for not tackling the misleading advertisements despite the present petition against the same having been filed in 2022.
“The entire country has been taken for a ride! For two years you wait when Drugs Act says this is prohibited?” the court said, according to Bar and Bench.
On July 10, 2022, Patanjali, while promoting their products, had published a half-page advertisement titled ‘Misconceptions spread by Allopathy: Save yourself and the country from the misconceptions spread by pharma and medical industry.’
The IMA then approached the court, arguing that the baseless claims made by Patanjali are in direct violation of the Drugs & Other Magic Remedies Act, 1954, and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had threatened to impose Rs 1 crore as penalty for each false claim made by Patanjali that professed to cure diseases.