Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna To Confront Misleading Ads Allegations In Top Court On Tuesday
Earlier this month, the multinational conglomerate issued an unconditional apology for airing misleading advertisements.
Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna are expected to appear in person to face the court for airing misleading advertisements, even after the court categorically restrained Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. from doing so.
In February, the top court restrained Patanjali from advertising medicinal products manufactured and marketed by it that aim to address ailments specified in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act.
This act prohibits advertising about drugs and remedies that claim to have magical cures for treating certain diseases and disorders like obesity, asthma, diabetes, and cancer.
During the last hearing, the court severely criticised Patanjali for failing to obey the court's directives and directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to be personally present before the court during the next hearing, which is coming up on Tuesday.
An unconditional apology has since then been furnished to the court, stating that Patanjali's intention was only to exhort the citizens of this country to lead a healthier life by using its products, which have been formulated through the use of age-old literature and materials supplemented and backed by Ayurvedic research.
Origins Of The Case
The case began in November last year, when the apex court issued a stern warning to Ramdev and his multinational conglomerate for downplaying the effects of modern medicine.
Some of Patanjali's commercials tout how its medicines can cure a number of illnesses while simultaneously disparaging allopathic and modern medicine.
The court had said that it would issue a hefty penalty for all those misleading advertisements that promise to cure diseases such as asthma, obesity, and the like.
At the time, Patanjali told the court that it would make sure that going forward, no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy against any system of medicine would be released to the media in any form.
However, a day after the court's stern remarks, Patanjali came out with a media statement saying that it was not making any "false advertisements or propaganda" regarding its products and that it would not object if the top court were to impose a fine or "even give us a death sentence" if found making misleading claims.
This prompted the apex court to serve a contempt notice to Patanjali and its Managing Director, Acharya Balkrishna for publicly disobeying its orders, as the company had continued to run its false ads even after giving an undertaking.
When the firm failed to respond to the court's notice, the court issued a contempt notice to Ramdev as well and ordered his personal presence in court during the next hearing.
