The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed a contempt case against Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and Patanjali MD Acharya Balkrishna in misleading advertisements case.
In a big relief to the Yoga Guru and Patanjali Ayurved MD, the top court today closed all proceedings against them.
In Februrary, the apex court issued a show cause notice to Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda and its Managing Director Acharya Balakrishna for causing contempt over running misleading advertisements despite an undertaking to the top court. The court took a prima facie view and said that the company has violated the November 2023 order by the apex court and its own undertaking by carrying out misleading advertisements about curing diseases that fall under the Drugs and Magic Remedies.
The contempt case against Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved MD Acharya Balakrishna stems from the Indian Medical Associations (IMA) petition in the top court seeking direction to the Centre, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and the CCPA (Central Consumer Protection Authority of India) to take action against advertisements and campaigns that promote the AYUSH system by downgrading Allopathy.
The petition raises concern over misleading statements by Baba Ramdev against allopathy and false claims by Patanjali of curing certain diseases in advertisements. The IMA has contended that despite the Ministry of AYUSH signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ASCI for monitoring misleading advertisements, Ramdev continues to flout norms.
As part of this case Ramdev had given an undertaking in the court that he will not make disparaging statements about other forms of medicine to promote his products. But, he held a press conference the very next day after giving undertaking in court.
When the top court took cognisance of the press conference and misleading advertisements by Baba Ramdev and Patanjali, it issued a show cause notice to him for contempt of court proceedings and sought his response as to why he should not be charged with contempt of court. Ramdev again drew the wrath of the top court when he did not file a response for the first time and then later the court found forgery of air tickets in his Apology affidavit.
In several consecutive hearings, the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah refused to accept appology by Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurveda.
In a hearing in April, dissatisfied with the apology tendered by the Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved MD in the misleading advertisements case, the court said, "we decline to accept this. We consider it a wilful, deliberate disobedience of the undertaking."
In another hearing the bench called their appology a mere lip service and asked why the size of apology published in newspapers was not the same as the Patanjali's misleading advertisements.
The court also made Baba Ramdev and the Patanjali MD personally appear in the court and questioned them over their conduct.
Ramdev spoke in the court and said that he wants to offer unconditional apology and regrets his statements. Ramdev further explained that as Ayurveda and Allopathy are mostly pitched against each other, he got excited and got carried away and made those statements.