The Supreme Court has issued a warning to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved, for publishing misleading claims and ads against modern systems of medicine. The court said it could impose fines of up to Rs1 crore on each product if a false claim is made regarding its ability to ‘cure’ a specific disease, responding to a petition from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) challenging deceptive advertising practices.
A Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra emphasised that the issue could not be reduced to a debate between modern medicine and Ayurvedic products, and instructed Patanjali Ayurved to immediately halt all false and misleading ads.
Justice Amanullah remarked, “All false and misleading advertisements by Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. This Court will take such infractions very seriously and will consider imposing costs of up to Rs 1 crore on every product for which a false claim is made that it can cure a particular disease.”
In addition to addressing Patanjali’s advertising practices, the Supreme Court has asked the Union to tackle misleading medical ads and come up with a proposal of suitable recommendations after consultations in the next hearing, scheduled for February 5, 2024.
IMA argued that Patanjali’s unverified claims violate laws such as the Drugs & Other Magic Remedies Act, 1954, and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Despite the Ministry of AYUSH’s memorandum of understanding with the Advertising Standards Council of India for monitoring misleading advertisements of AYUSH drugs, Patanjali allegedly continues to violate the law with impunity, according to the petition.
The Court’s intervention and the legal development could have far reaching implications for the industry and for medical advertising in India, prompting a reevaluation of standards and regulations.