advertisement
Patanjali's Co-founder Baba Ramdev and Managing Director Acharya Balakrishna have been given a week's time by the Supreme Court to issue a public apology over misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved Limited.
Nearly ago, on 27 February, the top court had passed an interim verdict saying Patanjali had violated its November 2023 undertaking by continuing to publish misleading advertisements.
On 2 April, continuing to hear the Indian Medical Association's plea seeking action against Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved Limited over misleading advertisements, the Supreme Court refused to accept the affidavit of apology filed by them calling it 'mere lip service'.
Ahead of the next hearing, FIT breaks down four important questions:
What is the case against Patanjali?
What does the interim verdict mean?
This is not the first time the company has been pulled up by the apex court, so what's different this time?
What is expected to happen now?
In August 2022, the Indian Medical Association filed an official petition in the top court against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, raising two main complaints:
The company has made unsubstantiated claims that its products can completely and permanently cure certain diseases and disorders, including COVID-19.
They have carried out a 'smear campaign' against modern medicine and the COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Speaking to FIT, after the interim order, Dr KV Babu, ophthalmologist and RTI (right to information) activist from Kannur, Kerala, who has filed several complaints against the company in the past, said, "These ads were accusing scientific medicine saying, if you take 'allopathy' medicines, such and such harmful effects and side effects are there."
"All of this is in clear violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act (1954)," he added.
The punishment for violating this law includes imprisonment up to one year and/or a fine.
This is not the first time the top court has reprimanded the company for misleading claims and deriding modern medicine.
At the time, the counsel for Patanjali assured the court that there "shall not be any violation of any law(s), especially relating to advertising or branding of products," and that, "no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine will be released to the media in any form."
However, during the hearing on 27 February, the IMA's counsel, senior advocate PS Patwalia, stated that just a day after the court's order in November 2023, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna (chairperson of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd) held a press conference where they made misleading claims again and continued to publish advertisements claiming that Patanjali products can provide permanent cures for ailments like diabetes, blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, and glaucoma.
In 27 February's interim order, the court has taken cognisance of the violation of the November order, saying,
Yashaswini Basu, a Bangalore-based human rights lawyer explains, "So, imagine this as a blanket order and anytime a complaint is raised, this can be invoked to impose costs on them and the kind of charges right now on Patanjali Ayurved Limited, is that they disobeyed the order of the previous order."
Basu explains, "An interim verdict is when the respondent is given time to respond to the notice. This case has not been disposed of yet and there will be hearings at the end soon and depending on what the respondents produce; the court will arrive at a final order and then pass a decree."
As per the interim order, Patanjali was given one weeks (before the next hearing on 23 April) 'to give them an opportunity to redeem their acts', and issue the public apology.
Furthermore, in the last hearing, the court had also asked the Union of India to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken by it to ensure that the order passed by the Supreme Court on 21 November 2023 was carried out.
In the meantime, the top court has also ordered a stay on any continued advertisements using misleading claims.
"They'll have to stop and abide by the notice where they have said that any sort of misleading advertisement where Patanjali product is an alternative to allopathic medicine has to be stopped," explains Basu.
Doctors, scientists, and health experts have, for years, claimed that these violations by Patanjali pose a larger threat to public health in the country.
"Medicines and drugs that claim to treat certain illnesses have to undergo certain rigorous scientific trials to generate evidence to back these claims," Dr Vikash R Keshri, a health policy expert, tells FIT.
He adds, "Even after having this scientific evidence, there are regulators that will review the evidence and justify which drugs should be approved and which not. These are the basic norms. "
The basic contention that health experts have with the company is that it has been advertising claims which have not been scientifically proven with robust evidence.
Speaking to FIT, Dr SP Kalantri, Director-Professor of medicine at MGIMS and medical superintendent of Kasturba Hospital, says that there are twin problems here.
Dr Kalantri goes on to add, "The problem is that people are very gullible and often desperate for solutions."
He says, "In modern medicine we often say outright, 'Sorry, there is no cure for this', but then, what happens is that this alternative medicine is quick to spot this gap in the market and start offering miracles to these people."
(FIT has reached out to Patanjali Ayurved and their legal representatives for a response over email. The article will be updated as and when they respond.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 18 Mar 2024,04:51 PM IST