Patanjali Misleading Ads Case: Supreme Court

Patanjali Misleading Ads Case: Further, the SC has granted Patanjali time to file affidavits indicating the steps taken to recall ads of the products of which licenses have been suspended, and for recalling medicines.

Patanjali misleading ads: Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna have filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, offering an unconditional apology in the  Patanjali misleading advertisement case. The duo have said that they sincerely regret this lapse and wish to assure the apex court that the same will not be repeated.

Patanjali Misleading Ads Case

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its final decision on the matter on April 10, 2024.

Earlier, the apex court came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for putting a defence on its misleading advertisements. rejecting the apology from yoga guru Ramdev and the firm’s managing director Acharya Balkrishna calling it “lip service” and saying they had broken “every barrier”.

The court rejected Balkrishna’s statement that the Drugs and Cosmetics (Magic Remedies) Act is “archaic” and said Patanjali Ayurved’s advertisements were in the “teeth of the Act” and violated with impunity the undertaking given to the court.

The bench, headed by Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, warned Ramdev and Balkrishna, who both were present in the court, to be ready to face the consequences.

The bench also questioned the Centre’s alleged inaction over Patanjali’s tall claims about the efficacy of its products and denigrating allopathy during the Covid peak and asked why the government chose to keep its “eyes shut”.

“The entire country has been taken for a ride. And you shut your eyes? What did you do for two years? The Act itself said that it (misleading advertisements) was prohibited. You should have taken urgent action… This is an unfortunate situation,” Justice Amanullah told the government.

Last year in November, Patanjali Ayurved had assured the Supreme Court that it will not violate any law, especially those relating to advertising or branding of products manufactured and marketed by it.

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The company also assured the bench that “no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine will be released to the media in any form”. It even said it would levy a penalty of  Rs 1 crore for each product making such claims.

However, Patanjali, despite its assurances to the court, did a press conference praising Patanjali products, which was followed by advertisements in mainstream media in December 2023 and January 2024.

Last week, the Supreme Court granted a “last opportunity” to Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna, asking them to file fresh affidavits within a week. The court also warned Ramdev and Balkrishna of perjury.