Three years after Patanjali published misleading advertisements, the accused, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, have not appeared in any court despite summons being issued in cases filed against them. Their lawyer appeared in a Palakkad court for two cases just a week after a bailable warrant was issued against them in one of the cases in the same court. In a Haridwar court, none of the accused turned up for four hearings despite summons, but no action has been taken.
On January 15, the Supreme Court warned states and union territories of contempt proceedings for failing to act against misleading advertisements. The issue of misleading advertisement came up when the court was hearing a case filed by the Indian Medical Association against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd alleging a smear campaign against modern medicine by the company and its proprietors. The apex court took up the issue of misleading ads being published or displayed in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. A senior lawyer appointed to assist the court informed the court that affidavits filed by states and union territories showed that virtually no action was being taken for violation of the 1954 law.
Despite Dr KV Babu, an ophthalmologist and RTI activist, flagging the misleading ads as a violation of DMR(OA), 1956 as far back as 2021, Patanjali and Baba Ramdev continued with the ads. “After the written assurance on 7th May 2022 that they have stopped the Ads, Divya pharmacy (a part of the Patanjali group) published objectionable Ads 53 times till 28th March 2023 as per the written reply by the ayush minister in the parliament,” tweeted Dr Babu in April last year.
The ads included drugs which claimed to cure/treat several conditions including diabetes, glaucoma, goitre, high/low blood pressure and cholesterol. Under section (d) of the DMR (OA) Act, 1956, there is a list of 54 conditions including diabetes, cataract, glaucoma, high or low blood pressure and heart diseases for which advertisement claiming cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention is prohibited.
Based on Dr Babu’s complaints, 29 cases were registered in different districts in Kerala and the first case was filed in Haridwar only on April 16, 2024 after the intervention of the Supreme Court. The case was listed by the Haridwar court eight times and the judge was unavailable on three occasions and the accused was absent on four occasions. The next date is on March 24, 2025.
It remains to be seen whether the accused will appear at the next hearing of the three cases in Palakkad. The first case in which a bailable warrant was issued is coming up on February 1. The other two cases, in which a lawyer appeared for the accused, are to be heard on February 27. In the Kochi case hearing on January 29, “all accused entered appearance” which means that they have signified they are participating in the case even if they did not make a physical apearance. There are many more related cases coming up in February.