Supreme Court Slams Patanjali, Apology Under Scrutiny 

The SC has previously ordered Patanjali to take down all the misleading ads last year and halt any attempts to degrade allopathy or modern medicine. 

23 April 2024

By Payoshi Bisht

After the Supreme Court put a ban on Patanjali Advertisements due to their misleading claims made in those ads, the SC on Tuesday, 23rd April 2024, questioned its managing director Balkrishna as well as the co-founder yoga guru Baba Ramdev of the public apology that they published for the misleading claims in their ads, which were as big as their advertisements. 

Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah were considering the case of Patanjali Ayurveda in which a contempt case was lodged against Balkrishna and Ramdev, who jointly own Patanjali Ayurveda, for publishing and showcasing misleading medical claims in their advertisements. This was proved to be a violation of an undertaking that was issued by the Supreme Court in November last year. 

However, on 22nd April 2024, Patanjali Ayurved published advertisements in some newspapers expressing an apology for their mistake and also held a press conference for the same. Mukul Rohatgi is representing Patanjali. As per the reports, both Balkrishna and Ramdev were present at the hearing in the court. 

The court compared the price of the apology being published in the name of Patanjali in almost 67 newspapers across the country to the actual cost of the full page advertisements that were published with false medical claims being made and promoted publically. The court further stated that additional ads of Patajali will be deemed unfit for public interest and shall be issued warnings. The matter has been postponed for hearing until 30th April.

The apex court warned Balkrishna and Ramdev to halt any attempts to degrade allopathy, issue an immediate apology publicly and show contrition for the same. This happened in the same week as when the misleading advertisements of Patanjali were seized by the court. The court has made it clear that it is not freeing Patanjali of any charges as of now. 

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also filed a plea against Patanjali alleging a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern medicinal treatments.