New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed a contempt case against Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved MD Acharya Balkrishna in a misleading ads case. The top court accepted their unconditional apology and an undertaking, assuring it that Patanjali would refrain from issuing misleading advertisements.
Ramdev and Balakrishna have repeatedly apologised in the top court and published apologies in multiple newspapers across the country. Accepting their apologies, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta issued a stern warning stating the contempt case would be reopened if any terms of their undertaking were breached in the future.
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The contempt proceedings began after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed a plea against Ramdev and Balakrishna for allegedly making misleading claims about the effectiveness and benefits of their products.
“The affidavits tendered before this court should be done with full truth. We close the contempt proceedings initiated against the party with the warning of adhering to the orders passed by this court in this case. The notice issued to present contemnor also stands discharge and closed,” the court added.
The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the Yoga Guru and his aide for misleading ads of Patanjali products.
The matter dates back to the Covid years. Patanjali launched a drug, Coronil, in 2021 and Ramdev described it as the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19”. It also claimed that Coronil had certification from WHO. The Indian Medical Association disputed this claim, saying it was a “blatant lie”.
In a subsequent video, Ramdev was heard saying that allopathy was a “stupid and bankrupt science”. The IMA sent a legal notice to him and sought an apology. Patanjali Yogpeeth responded that Ramdev was reading out from a forwarded WhatsApp message and has no ill-will against modern science.
Then, in August 2022, IMA moved a petition against Patanjali after it 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 had cured people of diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid, liver cirrhosis, arthritis and asthma.
The doctors’ body said the “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” comes alongside Patanjali’s efforts to make false claims about curing certain diseases through use of its products.
On November 21 last year, the Supreme Court warned Patanjali against such claims and threatened to slap heavy fines.
Patanjali’s counsel, court documents say, then assured that “henceforth, there shall not be any violation of any of the laws, especially relating to advertisement and branding of products”.
On January 15 this year, the Supreme Court received an anonymous letter that mentioned misleading advertisements Patanjali continued to put out. The court then sought a reply from Patanjali on why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against it. On March 19, the court was told that Patanjali had not filed the reply to the contempt notice. It then asked Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear in person.
On April 2, the court came down heavily on Ramdev and Balkrishna for their “absolute defiance” over not filing proper affidavits over the misleading advertisements. The apologies that followed were rejected after the Supreme Court said they were sent to the media first.
When the firm put out an apology in newspapers, the court asked if the size of the apology was similar to its full-page advertisements of its products. Thereafter, Patanjali put out larger apologies in all prominent newspapers.
