Patanjali Ayurved’s ‘misleading ads’, SC asks yoga guru Ramdev to appear in person

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Yoga guru Baba Ramdev to appear in person over Patanjali Ayurved’s “misleading ads” in two weeks. Acharya Balkrishna, Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurveda, has also been asked to appear.

According to a report in NDTV, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also summoned Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna.

The Supreme Court last month pulled up Patanjali for prima facie violation of its assurances about its products and statements claiming their medicinal efficacy. The court had issued a notice to Patanjali and Balkrishna, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

It noted today that Patanjali did not file a response even though it had held a press conference after its previous order. “Why haven’t you filed your response yet? We will ask the managing director to appear in the court during the next hearing,” the court said.

Moreover, according to the ruling, both Ramdev and Balakrishna were clearly in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Remedies Act, which deal with misleading advertisements for medicines. The court also issued a contempt notice to Ramdev, Patanjali’s co-founder, asking him to explain why he should not face contempt charges.

It has been further reported that the Supreme Court was hearing a suit filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) claiming Ramdev’s disinformation campaign against immunization and modern medicines.

On February 27, it issued a contempt notice to Patanjali, warning them not to make any negative statements against any medical system in the media. It further chastised the centre for not taking action, claiming they were sitting with their eyes closed.