Baba Ramdev is expected to appear in person in the Supreme Court today in Patanjali Ayurved’s misleading advertisements case. At the last hearing, the Supreme Court had criticised Patanjali for failing to obey its directives and directed Ramdev and the company’s managing director Acharya Balkrishna to be personally present before the court.
After the hearing, Patanjali Ayurved formally expressed regret to the Supreme Court in response to a notice prompting it to justify why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated for allegedly breaching an assurance provided to the top court on November 21, 2023.
In the affidavit filed in response to the notice, Acharya Balkrishna said they ‘regrets that the advertisement in question which was meant to contain only general statements inadvertently included the offending sentences’. They said they will ensure that such advertisements are not issued in the future.
As per the document the company’s ‘only quest is for a better and healthier life for each and every citizen and to reduce the burden on the countries healthcare infrastructure by providing holistic, evidence based solutions for lifestyle related medical complications through the usage of age old traditional of Ayurveda and Yoga.’
“In fact, the idea was to promote the ayurvedic products which are based on age old literature/material backed by scientific research,” the affidavit said.
On March 19, Ramdev and Balkrishna were summoned by for non-response to a contempt notice concerning misleading advertisements. The apex court noted their failure to reply to the notice and issued the directive. It came as part of ongoing proceedings where the Court previously issued a contempt notice against Patanjali Ayurved for persisting with misleading advertisements regarding medicinal cures.
On February 27, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved and managing director Acharya Balakrishnan were held in contempt by the Supreme Court. The court had also issued them a notice for violating its previously passed order against misleading advertising that talks about being able to cure serious diseases or makes claims against allopathy, etc,
Apart from issuing notice, the SC also temporarily restricted Patanjali Ayurved from advertising anything that claims to cure diseases like illnesses such as blood pressure, diabetes, fevers, epilepsy and lupus, specified in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954.