The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev to remain personally present before it as he failed to file a reply to a showcause notice in the contempt proceedings initiated against Patanjali Ayurved for its misleading advertisements.
The order was passed by the Bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah. The case will be heard next on April 2.
The Apex Court noted that Ramdev and Patanjali Chairman Acharya Balkrishna were prima facie in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
The Bench passed the order despite strong opposition by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for Patanjali.
As the Court directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to file their replies, Rohatgi protested and asked, “How does Ramdev come into the picture?”
The Bench asked Rohatgi, “How can you be in the teeth of our orders?”
Rohtagi then submitted that violation of the law was not a contempt of court and what was being relied on in the open court had to be recorded in the order.
However, the Court did not relent and passed the order for the personal appearance of Ramdev.
Earlier, the top court of the country had imposed a temporary ban on advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved’s medicines, and issued contempt notices to its founders Ramdev and Balkrishna for making misleading claims.
The Apex Court observed that Patanjali has been taking the country for a ride by falsely claiming that its medicines could cure certain diseases despite no empirical evidence for the same.
It also pulled up the Central government for not tackling such misleading advertisements despite the present petition having been filed in 2022 against the same.
The Bench further directed Patanjali not to make any adverse statements or claims against other forms of medicine.
The order was passed on a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by the self-styled yoga guru and his company against the Covid-19 vaccination drive and modern medicine.
In November last year, the Apex Court had threatened to impose costs of Rs 1 crore per false claim made in each advertisement for Patanjali Ayurved products that claimed to cure diseases.
The Bench had then stressed that the issue could not be reduced to a debate between allopathy/modern medicine and Ayurvedic products.
It further directed Patanjali not to publish any false advertisements in the future, and to avoid making such claims to the media, as ultimately a solution was needed regarding misleading medical advertisements.