Patanjali ads: Relief for Ramdev, Acharya Balakrishna as Supreme Court closes contempt case

Patanjali ads case: Supreme Court closed contempt case against Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna, accepting their undertakings to stop issuing misleading ads.

Updated on: Aug 13, 2024, 11:44:46 IST

By HT News Desk

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Patanjali ads case: The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed the contempt case against yoga guru Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna, accepting their undertakings to stop issuing misleading advertisements and other claims regarding Patanjali Ayurved Ltd products.

Yoga guru Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna in Mumbai. (Raju Shinde/HT file)

A petition filed by Indian Medical Assosiciation which approached the Supreme Court in 2022 against disparaging remarks by Ramdev and Patanjali against modern medicine. The petition showed that Patanjali’s advertisements promising miracle cures for lifestyle disorders and other illness violated the law under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1954.

The court had issued contempt notices to Ramdev and Balkrishna after the advertisements continued to appear in newspapers in violation of an undertaking given by the company in November last year.

On August 6, the Supreme Court asked IMA Ppesident Dr RV Asokan to publish apologies in all prominent newspapers that carried his interview over his controversial remarks regarding the hearing on misleading advertisements in the top court.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta also made it clear that Asokan would bear the expanses for the same from his own pocket and not to be done on the IMA's behalf. The court then adjourned the matter.

The court also expressed unhappiness with Asokan for the nature of the apology tendered by him in the matter.

Earlier Asokan's lawyer apprised the court that an apology for his controversial remarks regarding the Patanjali hearing has been published in the various media platforms and its website too. When the IMA website is opened, there is a pop-up of this apology. He also apprised the court that the IMA president expressed regret and furnished an unconditional apology for such statements, news agency ANI reported.

The court was dealing with the IMA's plea seeking to frame guidelines for prohibiting false and misleading advertisements in relation to allopathy and modern medicine.

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