Patanjali: Supreme Court Summons Yoga Gur Ramdev: The Supreme Court today slammed Patanjali for failing to respond to the contempt notice in the misleading advertisement case and has summoned co-founder and yoga guru Ramdev and ordered him to appear in the court.
Last year, a petition was filed by the Indian Medical Association in the Supreme Court against Patanjali for publishing misleading advertisements. In this case, the Supreme Court had sent a notice of contempt to Patanjali on 27 February 2024. Patanjali failed to respond to the notice. In this case, the Supreme Court raised very strong objection and strongly reprimanded Patanjali and sent summons to the company’s co-founder and yoga guru Ramdev and ordered him to appear in the court.
What did the Supreme Court say on 21 November 2023?
During the hearing on 21 November 2023 on the Indian Medical Association’s petition against Patanjali, the Supreme Court had taken Patanjali Ayurved to task and had said – immediately stop the advertisements making false claims against allopathy medicines, otherwise we will impose heavy fine on you. The Supreme Court on Tuesday strongly reprimanded Patanjali Ayurveda for publishing misleading claims and advertisements against modern medical systems like allopathy etc. The bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra was hearing the petition of Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurveda. Justice Amanullah made a verbal comment that the misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurveda will have to be stopped immediately, we will consider its violation as serious. He warned that a fine of up to Rs 1 crore can be imposed on each such product making false claims about curing a particular disease.
During the hearing on November 21, Patanjali Ayurveda’s lawyer had assured the Supreme Court that it will not publish any such advertisement in future and will also ensure that no misleading statements are made in the media. This assurance was also recorded by the court in its order.
‘This issue should not be made a debate of Allopathy vs Ayurveda’
The Supreme Court bench had said that it does not want to make this issue a debate of allopathy versus Ayurveda but wants to find a real solution to the problem of misleading advertisements. The bench asked Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj to consult with the Central Government and present suitable recommendations to solve this problem. The next hearing in this case will be on 5 February 2024.
The Supreme Court on February 27, 2024 issued a contempt notice to yoga guru Baba Ramdev-owned Patanjali Ayurveda and its managing director Acharya Balkrishna for violating its order against misleading advertisements of its products. The court has also restrained Patanjali from advertising its medicinal products till further orders. The top court had pulled up the Patanjali group while hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) regarding ‘misinformation against allopathy’.
‘Misleading advertising is absolutely intolerable’
While hearing this case, Justice Amanullah said that misleading advertisements cannot be tolerated at all. Senior advocate PS Patwalia, representing the Indian Medical Association, highlighted that Patanjali had claimed to ‘completely cure’ diabetes and asthma with the help of yoga. Justice Amanullah said that if this is done in future, a fine of Rs 1 crore per product advertisement will be imposed.
‘Do not make statements against the medical system’
On February 27, the apex court had asked why action should not be taken against Patanjali. The notice has been issued on the basis of photographs printed in advertisements. Along with this, the court warned that do not make statements against any medical system in any form in print or other media.
According to the IMA complaint, Ramdev was allegedly spreading misinformation on social media against the medicines being used by the medical fraternity. The court had fixed the next hearing for March 15, 2024. However, a hearing was held on March 19, 2024 and for not responding to the contempt notice, Patanjali co-founder Ramdev was summoned and ordered to appear in the court on the next date.