Patanjali misleading ads case: Ramdev not so innocent, says SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday came heavily on Patanjali’s Ramdev and said that “he is not so innocent” while hearing the contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved in connection with the misleading advertisements of the company's medicinal products. 

Yoga guru Ramdev, and his aide Balkrishna, issued another apology in Supreme Court today during the hearing of contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved in connection with its misleading ads and Covid cure claims. 

“We are not saying we will forgive you. We cannot be blind to your earlier history, we will think about your apology. You are not so innocent that you were completely unaware of what was going on in Court),” Justice Kohli said. “At this moment, we are not saying they're off the hook."

The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah called the Patanjali founders forward and acknowledged their contribution to yoga. "We respect what you have done for yoga," the bench said. 

However, it also criticized him for his "irresponsible behaviour". The duo told the court they were ready to publicly apologize. Ramdev said it was never his intention to bring down the prestige of the Supreme Court. 

The court has given a week’s time to Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna to publicly apologise. The next hearing will take place on April 23. 

Ramdev while talking to media outside court said, "I have said what I had to. I have full faith in the judiciary."
Last week, the court had rebuked Patanjali founders during the previous hearing and had also pulled up the Uttarakhand government for not taking any action against the Haridwar-based company.

The controversy surrounding Patanjali’s misleading ads began after Patanjali Ayurved launched a drug, Coronil, in 2021 claiming it as the "first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19".  The Indian Medical Association spoke out against the "blatant lie" that Coronil had WHO certification.

Following that, Ramdev, in a video ,was heard saying that allopathy was a “stupid and bankrupt science”. He said no modern medicine was curing Covid. The IMA sent a legal notice to Ramdev and sought an apology and withdrawal of statements. Patanjali Yogpeeth responded that Ramdev was reading out from a forwarded WhatsApp message and has no ill-will against modern science.

Patanjali also published an advertisement in newspapers titled 'Misconceptions Spread By Allopathy: Save Yourself And The Country From The Misconceptions Spread By Pharma And Medical Industry'. 

The ad claimed that Patanjali drugs were capable of curing various diseases, including cancer and diabetes, without providing any scientific evidence to support these claims.

In response to these advertisements, the Indian Medical Association (IMA)  filed a complaint with the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), alleging that the claims made by Patanjali were false and misleading and could harm the public.  The AYUSH ministry then directed the company to withdraw the advertisements, but Patanjali refused to comply with the order.

In August 2022, the IMA moved a petition against the company and said that the advertisements were in violation of the Drugs & Other Magical Remedies Act, 1954 (DOMA) and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (CPA), which prohibit the publishing of false and misleading advertisements.

The matter was then taken to the Supreme Court, which reprimanded the company for its "absolute defiance" and directed it to file a reply to the contempt petition filed by the IMA.