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A bench of Judges Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said that Patanjali has been misleading the nation by falsely claiming that its products would treat certain diseases despite no empirical evidence for the same.
Digital Desk: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim ban prohibiting the promotion of Patanjali Ayurvedic medicines [Indian Medical Association & Anr vs Union of India and Ors].
A bench of Judges Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said that Patanjali has been misleading the nation by falsely claiming that its products would treat certain diseases despite no empirical evidence for the same.
Consequently, the Court ruled that Patanjali was not allowed to promote or advertise any of the pharmaceutical items that they said would cure the diseases specified in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act.
Additionally, the Court issued a notice of contempt of court to Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, the founders of Patanjali, for disobeying previous orders of the Court by continuing to spread false and misleading claims about the medicinal properties of their products.
The Chief Executive Officer of Patanjali is Balkrishna.
Despite the writ having been filed in 2022, the court chastised the company for its continued violation of court orders and criticized the Central government for its failure to take action against misleading advertisements.
"The entire country has been taken for a ride! For two years you wait when Drugs Act says this is prohibited?" the Court remarked.
The bench was hearing a plea from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which claimed that the self-styled yoga guru and his company had launched a smear campaign against modern medicine and the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
In November of last year, the Supreme Court issued an order threatening to impose fines of Rs 1 crore for each false claim made in every Patanjali Ayurvedic product commercial that claims to cure diseases.
The bench, led by Justice Amanullah, had emphasised that the matter was too complex to be reduced to a dispute between modern medicine/allopathy and Ayurvedic products.
In an earlier ruling, the highest court directed Patanjali Ayurved to refrain from publishing false advertisements in the future and to refrain from making similar claims to the media, as ultimately a solution was needed regarding misleading medical advertisements.
The central government was asked to hold consultations and provide suggestions and remedies in this regard.
The Supreme Court questioned Ramdev in August 2022 on his attempt to discredit allopathy and its practicing doctors during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Patanjali ambassador is the target of several criminal cases filed by the IMA.
The IMA stressed that Ramdev had made similar claims on several occasions, each of which is a separate basis for legal action.
Senior Advocate PS Patwalia with advocate Prabhas Bajaj appeared for IMA. Senior Advocate Vipin Sanghi represented Patanjali Ayurved.
The Central government was represented by Solicitor General KM Nataraj. As an intervenor in the case, the National Association of Pharmacology and Therapeutics was represented by lawyer Mrinmoi Chatterjee.
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