SC asks Patanjali to stop making misleading ads; warns of imposing 'hefty penalties'

Considering a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association against Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda for ‘false and malicious ads’, the Supreme Court has asked the brand to stop making misleading ads against modern medicines and vaccines.

The news was first broke on the internet by Live Law.

#BREAKING #SupremeCourt comes down heavily at the advertisements of #Patanjali Ayurveda against modern medicines and vaccination.#SupremeCourt asks #Patanjali to not make any misleading advertisements or false claims; warns that hefty penalties will be imposed.

The court also… pic.twitter.com/TmNvUY1zUB

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) November 21, 2023

Apart from reprimanding the brand to stop misleading ads, the Supreme Court also warned Patanjali of ‘hefty penalties’ as high as Rs 1 crore for each product being imposed if the brand continues claiming false cure.

The bench comprising justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra also directed the Union Government to come back with a proposal to tackle misleading medical advertisements as it didn’t want to make the issue a debate between Allopathy and Ayurveda.

Instead, the apex court aims to find a ‘real solution’ to the problem of misleading medical advertisements.

As per the petition filed by IMA, Ramdev has made several controversial statements which include referring to Allopathy as ‘stupid and bankrupt science’ and releasing a half-page ad in July, last year wherein the brand’s creative read, “Misconceptions spread by Allopathy: Save yourself and the country from the misconceptions spread by Pharma and Medical Industry.”

In the case’s last hearing which happened in the month of August, last year, the then Chief Justice of India, N V Ramana, said, “What happened to Baba Ramdev? He can popularise his system, but why should he criticise other systems? We all respect him. He popularised yoga but he should not criticise other systems. What is the guarantee that Ayurveda will cure all diseases? He cannot refuse the doctor system. He must exercise restraint in abusing other systems.”

“Why give these huge advertisements saying doctors are killers? He cannot abuse the doctors and systems like this,” he had observed at the time.

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