New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ordered yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved’s Managing Director, Acharya Balkrishna, to appear in person due to the company’s non-compliance with a notice regarding contempt proceedings. The proceedings are related to the advertisements of Patanjali’s products and their claimed medicinal benefits.
The court deemed it necessary to issue a show cause notice to Ramdev, as the advertisements by Patanjali contradicted the commitment made to the court on November 21, 2023, and appeared to be endorsed by him.
Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah observed that Patanjali Ayurved, a herbal products company co-founded by Ramdev, and Balkrishna had not responded to earlier notices asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for apparently violating the court’s undertaking.
The court has instructed them to appear personally at the next hearing. It has also issued a notice to Ramdev to show cause why he should not face contempt of court proceedings, as the court believes he has violated sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act. These sections pertain to the prohibition of certain drug advertisements and misleading drug-related advertisements.
Last year, on November 21, the company’s counsel assured the court that there would be no future violations of any laws, particularly those related to the advertising or branding of its products. They also promised not to release any casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine to the media.
The court is currently hearing a plea from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging that Ramdev has been running a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern medicine.
The court questioned why Patanjali and Balkrishna had not responded to the notice issued in the contempt proceedings. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Patanjali and Balkrishna, stated that he had discussed the matter with his client.
“It is not enough for us. We had taken it very seriously. Not filing it means there will be orders and consequences will follow,” the bench told Rohatgi.
“We don’t want to be sounding as if we are targeting him but on the same day we passed an order here and at 9:30 p.m. it was coming on Aajtak. Every time you show the court that look here I am ahead of you. How do you explain this? You are tempting us. As a senior counsel I am telling you we are not going to be lacking whatever message goes, whatever it takes we are not bothered,” Justice Amanullah said.
The court also ordered Patanjali and Balkrishna to file their responses by Wednesday.
The court also criticised the Centre as its affidavit, filed only on Monday evening, was not on record. The court granted the Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K M Nataraj, permission to withdraw its earlier additional affidavit and gave it a final two-week opportunity to file a fresh affidavit detailing the steps it has taken in accordance with the November 21, 2023 order.
As the court concluded the order, Rohatgi stated that Ramdev holds no position in Patanjali Ayurved and that no new advertisement was issued. He argued that the advertisements in question were already present at the last hearing. The court responded that it had refrained from issuing a notice to Ramdev at the previous hearing and that the reasons for doing so now have been indicated in the order.