On February 27, the Supreme Court issued a show-cause notice to Patanjali Ayurved and its managing director Balakrishna for reneging on their commitment to refrain from making deceptive claims in their medicine advertisements.
Additionally, the court barred the company from releasing any adverts asserting the treatment of diseases like blood pressure, diabetes, fevers, epilepsy, and lupus, as stipulated in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, which encompasses 54 illnesses.
Expressing strong disapproval, the apex court remarked, “The entire country is being taken for a ride,” and criticized the government for being indifferent.
Reprimanding the Center for its inaction, the court demanded an affidavit detailing measures taken to curb the dissemination of inaccurate medication information by companies through media channels. Patanjali and its staff were cautioned against propagating misleading claims about their products’ curative capabilities.
This ruling stemmed from a writ petition lodged by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) concerning misleading advertising by certain firms.
Despite committing in November to refrain from airing ads containing false assertions about its products and criticizing modern medicines and vaccinations, Patanjali continued with such advertisements, the court was informed.
In November 2023, the court had cautioned Patanjali, stating, “All false and misleading advertisements by Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. This court will take such infractions very seriously and will consider imposing costs of up to Rs 1 crore on every product for which a false claim is made that it can cure a particular disease.”
Furthermore, the court instructed the Center to devise a plan to address broader issues surrounding deceptive medical advertisements. The IMA had raised concerns about Patanjali’s campaigns disparaging modern medicine and vaccination efforts.
