DELHI: 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 court had issued contempt of court notice to Ramdev and Patanjali MD in a petition filed by Inidan Medical Association raising concern over misleading statements by Baba Ramdev against allopathy and false claims by Patanjali of curing certain diseases in advertisements. The IMA contended that despite the Ministry of AYUSH signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ASCI for monitoring misleading advertisements, Ramdev continued to flout norms and make disparaging statements against allopathy in media.
In several consequtive hearing, 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.
