The Supreme Court is currently hearing the contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved for airing/publishing “misleading advertisements”. The petition was filed by the Indian Medical Association. Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved managing director Acharya Balkrishna were seen arriving at the court ahead of the hearing. A panel consisting of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah began the hearing at 10:30 am. The court had called for Ramdev and Balkrishna because the company didn’t reply to the show cause notices about its product advertisements and their effectiveness, which the court found concerning.
The SC told Ramdev to be prepared for all the consequences and warned him that there would be charges of Forgery. The court also put forth some compelling questions when it said, “You do mention that you gave notice to them, you chose not to file the reply. We are wondering why?” The Sc further asked why the UOI chose to keep their eyes shut.
The SC then gave an order that said, “On the last day of hearing, notice to show cause was additionally issued to Baba Ramdev….though notice was accepted, the reply to show cause is not on record. Balbir Singh (for Ramdev) submits that the reply is ready but could not be filed on time. Copies be thereof be furnished.” It further added, “The last opportunity of one week is granted to file a reply. Coming to the UOI, a detailed affidavit running into 42 pages has been filed by the Ministry of AYUSH,” it added.
The order also pointed out that the action that was required to be taken by the State Department was not on record. It said, “the UOI has called on the State to file the….detailed action taken; this shows that the State licensing duty is not discharging its duty.”