Supreme Court to examine public apology by Patanjali today
Supreme Court to examine public apology by Patanjali today
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved, its promoter Baba Ramdev and Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna for misleading medical advertisements of the company’s products.
The top court will examine the public apology published by the company following the Supreme Court’s direction. Both Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna will be present in court today.
The bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association alleging a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine, had asked Patanjali Ayurved to publish a public apology.
Following this, the company issued an unqualified public apology in as many as 67 newspapers. However, the court asked the company to issue a fresh “prominent” apology equal to the size of their advertisements, and Patanjali published a bigger apology. The company also tendered an apology before the top court during the previous hearing.
The hearing witnessed sharp comments against the company from the Supreme Court. On April 23, the bench came down heavily on the company over the fake advertisements by stating “We can’t let the public be taken for a ride. It also asked the Centre and state licencing authorities to “activate” themselves to deal with misleading advertisements.
On Monday, the Uttarakhand government suspended the manufacturing licence of 14 Patanjali products. The banned products include Divya Pharmacy’s Drishti Eye drop, Swasari Gold, Swasari Vati, Bronchom, Swasari Pravahi, Swasari Avaleh, Mukta Vati Extra Power, Lipidom, Bp Grit, Madhugrit, Madhunashini Vati Extra Power, Livamrit Advance, Livogrit and Eyegrit Gold.
The Supreme Court, in November 2023, had directed Patanjali to stop advertisements of its products claiming to treat ailments and disorders specified in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. However, citing the continuation of the advertisements, the IMA moved the court with a contempt plea.
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