Uttarakhand Govt Suspends Licenses Of 14 Patanjali Products In Latest Setback To Baba Ramdev

The order comes amid the Supreme Court of India coming down hard on Baba Ramdev and Patanjali for his criticism of Covid-19 vaccine and misleading advertisements of his traditional medicinal products.

Uttarakhand's drug regulator on Monday suspended the manifacturing licences of 14 products of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved with immediate effect over misleading advertisements. 

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the licencing body said that it had suspended licenses of 14 products manufactured by Patanjali's Divya Pharmacy in connection with the misleading advertisements case.

The details of the suspension of licences were mentioned in a notification dated April 24 showed. However, the government order has not been made public yet.

The order comes amid the Supreme Court of India coming down hard on Baba Ramdev and Patanjali for his criticism of Covid-19 vaccine and misleading advertisements of his traditional medicinal products. 

According to a report in India Today, the banned products include Divya Pharmacy's Drishti Eye drop, Swasari Gold, Swasari Vati, Bronchom, Swasari Pravahi, Swasari Avaleh, Mukta Vati Extra Power, Lipidom, Bp Grit, Madhugrit, Madhunashini Vati Extra Power, Livamrit Advance, Livogrit and Eyegrit Gold.

The government order also stated that the licences for manufacturing permits have been "suspended with immediate effect" for repeatedly publishing misleading advertisements about the effectiveness of the medications. 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear the matter related to the apology published by Yoga guru Ramdev and his associate Acharya Balkrishna on April 30 to determine whether to press contempt charges against Ramdev or not. Both of them will be present in the court on Tuesday.
 
The apex court is hearing the Indian Medical Association's (IMA) 2022 plea alleging a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine. 

The court had asked Ramdev, his aide Acharya Balakrishnan and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd  last month to issue a public apology for not following its orders on misleading ads.  

Ramdev's Patanjali Foods, meanwhiel, has also been served a show cause notice by the GST intelligence department, asking the company to explain why input tax credit worth Rs 27.46 crore should not be recovered from it, a report in PTI said.

The Ramdev-led Ayurved Group firm, which is mainly into the edible oil business, has received the notice from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Chandigarh Zonal Unit, according to a regulatory filing made by the company.

"A show cause notice is received by the company... requiring the company, its officers and authorised signatories to show cause as to why input tax credit amounting to Rs 27,46,14,343 should not be recovered (along with interest), and why penalty should not be imposed...," the company said.