Mar 21,2024
Patanjali Ayurved has issued an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for airing “misleading” advertisements. This comes after the court asked Patanjali’s co-founder Baba Ramdev and managing director Acharya Balkrishna to personally appear before it on April 2 to clarify their failure to respond to the contempt notice issued against them and the company regarding misleading advertisements about medicinal cures.
Aacharya Balkrishna says it (misleading advertisements) won’t be repeated in future.
Shares of Patanjali Foods cracked over 5% on March 19 following the Supreme Court’s notice. The shares were up 0.7% at Rs 1,368.80 apiece on BSE Sensex, which jumped 550 points in initial trade on Thursday.
“How can you be in teeth of our orders?… We had our hands tied earlier but not now (with initiation of contempt proceedings). As an officer of the court, you (Rohatgi) should know your position,” a bench comprising justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah on March 19 told senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Patanjali Ayurved, the parent company of Patanjali Foods.
The judges also remarked that Ramdev and Balkrishna were prima facie in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
Rohatgi strongly opposed the directions, asking “how does Ramdev come into the picture?… violation of the law is not a contempt of court and what was being relied on in open court has to be recorded in the order.”
On February 27, the Supreme Court had expressed dissatisfaction with Patanjali Ayurved’s continued publication of false and misleading advertisements about medicinal cures, despite previously promising not to do so. The Court issued notices to the company and Balkrishna, questioning why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.
The apex court had also warned the company that it should not make any statement against any system of medicine in the media, both print and electronic and had barred Patanjali Ayurved from advertising or marketing its products which it claimed to treat ailments and disorders specified in Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
The judges had also flayed the Centre (the AYUSH ministry) for failing to take appropriate action against Patanjali Ayurved under the drugs and magic remedies law in respect of such advertisements.
Source: Healthworld
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