Noida:

The sale of 14 Ayurvedic medicines manufactured by Divya Pharmacy and Patanjali Ayurveda Limited has been banned by the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration.

The Supreme Court on July 9 directed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, founded by yoga guru Ramdev, to file an affidavit stating whether advertisements of its 14 products, whose manufacturing licences were initially suspended but later restored, have been withdrawn.

The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority had on April 15 issued an order suspending the manufacturing licences of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy.

The Regional Ayurvedic and Unani Officer of Gautam Buddh Nagar issued the directive banning the 14 products on Friday, officials said.

This action follows orders from the State Drug Licensing Authority, Ayurvedic and Unani Services, Uttarakhand, they said.

According to information shared by the district information office, all medical practitioners and medical stores operating in the district have been informed to cease the sale of the 14 listed products immediately.

The listed products include Swasari Gold, Swasari Vati, Bronchom, Swasari Pravahi, Swasari Avaleh, Mukta Vati Extra Power, Lipidom, Madhu Grit, BP Grit, Madhunashini Vati Extra Power, Livamrit Advance, Livogrit, Eyegrit Gold, and Patanjali Drishti Eye Drop.

“As per the orders of the State Drug Licensing Authority Ayurvedic and Unani Services, Uttarakhand, Dehradun, the manufacturing license for the attached list of 14 medicines of Divya Pharmacy and Patanjali Ayurveda Limited has been cancelled,” Dr Dharmendra Kumar Kem, Regional Ayurvedic and Unani Officer Gautam Buddh Nagar, said.

“In pursuance of the above orders, all the drug dealers/medical stores working in the district are informed that the sale of the medicines mentioned in the attached list is banned with immediate effect. If found buying/selling the said medicines, action will be taken as per rules,” Kem added in the order.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, founded by yoga guru Ramdev, to file an affidavit stating whether advertisements of its 14 products, whose manufacturing licences were initially suspended but later restored, have been withdrawn.

The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority had on April 15 issued an order suspending the manufacturing licences of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy.

In a fresh development, the state licensing authority has filed an affidavit in the apex court stating that the suspension order has been cancelled following a report by a high-level committee which examined the grievances of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd in the wake of the row.

It said on May 17, the operation of the April 15 order was paused and later the the suspension order was cancelled.

However, during the hearing, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta took note of the May 16 affidavit of Patanjali in which the firm stated that the sale of these 14 products was stopped in light of the April 15 suspension order.

The affidavit stated that the company has also taken steps to remove the related advertisements from its official verified social media accounts/handles.

“Respondent number five (Patanjali Ayurved Ltd) is directed to file an affidavit stating inter alia whether the request made to social media intermediaries have been acceded to and advertisements of 14 products have been removed/ withdrawn,” the bench said.

The top court, which was hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Patanjali against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine, asked the firm to file its affidavit within two weeks.

The bench asked senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for the IMA, whether they have done due diligence and checked if these advertisements were withdrawn after the affidavit was filed by Patanjali in May.

During the hearing, an advocate appearing for one of the applicants said the Centre should look into the matter related to misleading advertisements as quickly as possible.

“This is having a great impact on the online industry,” he said, adding, “The industry should not suffer. That is not the intent of the orders (of the court)”.

Justice Kohli said, “The intention is not to cause any harassment to anybody. The intention is only to focus on particular sectors and particular aspects.” One of the advocates said he was appearing for a radio association and they have advertisements which are of 10 seconds.

“We are also of the opinion that the industry should not suffer in any manner. The focus of this court has already been highlighted in the previous orders and needs no repetition,” the bench said.

It said the issue should be discussed by the authorities at the highest level.

“We don’t want that there should be layers of approval so that whatever has to be shortened and simplified, that should be done,” the bench said.

Noting that the scope of the petition has been expanded in terms of its order passed on May 7, the bench requested advocate Shadan Farasat to assist the court as an amicus curiae in the matter.

It said the amicus shall assist the court in collating the data being furnished by the state authorities, including the Centre and other authorities, so as to save time and focus on the issues highlighted by the court earlier.

“Can we request you to convene a meeting so that all the stakeholders and the senior most officers of your department can have a brain-storming,” the bench told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K M Nataraj, who was appearing for the Centre.

Nataraj said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has held high-level meetings with various stakeholders with an idea of resolving the issues and the difficulties expressed by them.

“He (ASG) submits that such meetings shall be taken further… to streamline the issues and point out the difficulties being faced by the intervenors and the manner in which they can be resolved,” the bench noted.

It asked the ministry to continue the “churning of ideas” and have further meetings in this direction and file an affidavit making its recommendations within three weeks.

The bench said affidavits filed by several state licensing authorities in the matter be furnished to the amicus for his perusal and to enable him to assist the court by pointing out if there were any non-compliance by any of the state authorities in terms of the orders passed by the court.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on July 30.

On May 14, the top court had reserved its order on the contempt notice issued to yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd in the misleading advertisements case.

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd had assured the top court on November 21 last year that it will not violate any law, especially those relating to advertising or branding of products manufactured and marketed by it.

It had also assured the bench that “no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine will be released to the media in any form”.

The top court had said Patanjali Ayurved Ltd is “bound down to such assurance”.

The non-observance of the specific undertaking and subsequent media statements had irked the bench, which later issued notices to show cause why contempt proceedings should be not initiated against them. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pithoragarh:

A court here has sentenced three people to six months’ imprisonment for violating food safety standards in making Patanjali Elaichi “soan papadi”.

Assistant Prosecution Officer Ritesh Verma said that Pithoragarh Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Singh on Saturday also imposed fines of Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 on them, besides the jail sentence.

Verma said that the court sentenced Leeladhar Pathak, a shopkeeper from the Berinag town of Pithoragarh, to six months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for selling the product.

The court sentenced Ajay Joshi, assistant manager of Patanjali’s authorised representative Kanhaji Distributors Pvt Ltd located in Nainital’s Ramnagar, to six months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.

Abhishek Kumar, assistant general manager of the company, has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25,000.

He said that the three were convicted under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

Verma said that after collecting samples of Patanjali “Elaichi Navratna soan papdi” from Pathak’s shop on September 17, 2019, they were sent to the National Laboratory in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad for testing.

A case in this regard was registered in 2021 after reports found the samples did not meet the food safety standards. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Dehradun:

An interim stay was put on Friday on the implementation of an order suspending the manufacturing licences of more than a dozen medicines of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy.

The interim stay is being imposed with immediate effect on the basis of a preliminary inquiry report by a high-level committee, Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Secretary, Ayush, Uttarakhand government, said in an order.

“The order of the suspension is illegal and should not have been passed by the licensing authority in the manner it has been passed,” the committee looking into the matter said in its report.

The firms had challenged last month’s suspension order issued by the Uttarakhand state licensing authority.

“Since the licence has been cancelled without following the procedure established by law, the committee is submitting its report to the government of Uttarakhand for appropriate decision,” it said.

The State Licensing Authority, Ayurvedic and Unani Services had suspended the manufacturing licence of 14 Patanjali products last month under Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1945 and Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954.

The medicines whose manufacturing licence had been suspended included Swasari Gold, Swasari Vati, Bronchom, Swasari Pravahi, Swasari Avaleh, Mukta Vati Extra Power, Lipidom, BP Grit, Madhugrit, Madhunashini Vati Extra Power, Livamrit Advance, Livogrit, Eyegrit Gold and Patanjali Drishti Eyedrop.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balkrishna put out a public apology in newspapers today for not complying with the Supreme Court’s directions in the misleading ads case against Patanjali Ayurved Limited. Patanjali put out an apology yesterday too, but the court had asked if its size was as big as the misleading ads of its drugs.

The ad published this morning covers one-fourth of a newspaper page and is titled “Unconditional Public Apology”. “In wake of ongoing matter before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Writ Petition C. No. 645/2022), we in our individual capacity as well as on behalf of the Company, unconditionally apologise for the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/ orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” it read.

“We unconditionally extend the apology for holding meeting/press conference dated 22.11.2023. We earnestly apologize for the mistake made in publishing our advertisements and it is our whole- hearted commitment that such errors will not be repeated. We undertake to abide by directions and instructions of the Hon’ble Court with due care and utmost sincerity. We undertake to uphold the majesty of the court and comply with applicable laws and directions of the Hon’ble Court of law/relevant authorities. Sincerely, Patanjali Ayurved Limited, Acharya Balkrishna, Swami Ramdev, Haridwar, Uttarakhand,” the note added.

The ad published yesterday was smaller and did not specifically mention the names of Ramdev and Balkrishna.

Hearing the matter yesterday, the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah had asked if the apology had been published prominently. “Has the apology been published prominently? Same font and size as your earlier advertisements?” Justice Kohli had asked.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Ramdev and Balkrishna, told the court that the apology was published in 67 newspapers at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, but the court was firm. “Please cut out the ads and then supply it to us. Do not enlarge them and supply it to us. We want to see the actual size. This is our direction… we want to see that when you issue an ad, it does not mean we have to see it by a microscope,” Justice Kohli said.

The matter will be heard next on April 30 and Ramdev and Balkrishna have been asked to appear in court.

What Is The Case

The matter dates back to the Covid years, when Patanjali launched a drug, Coronil, in 2021 and Ramdev described it as the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19”. Patanjali also claimed that Coronil had certification from the World Health Organization, but the Indian Medical Association called this a “blatant lie”.

The face-off between the medical body and Patanjali escalated after a video of Ramdev, in which he was heard saying that allopathy was a “stupid and bankrupt science”, went viral. The IMA sent a legal notice to Ramdev and sought an apology. Patanjali Yogpeeth responded that Ramdev was reading out from a forwarded WhatsApp message and has no ill-will against modern science.

In August 2022, IMA moved a petition against Patanjali after it published an advertisement in newspapers titled ‘Misconceptions Spread By Allopathy: Save Yourself And The Country From The Misconceptions Spread By Pharma And Medical Industry’. The ad claimed that Patanjali drugs had cured people of diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid, liver cirrhosis, arthritis and asthma.

The doctors’ body said the “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” comes alongside Patanjali’s efforts to make false claims about curing certain diseases through use of Patanjali products.

On November 21 last year, the Supreme Court warned Patanjali against such claims and threatened to slap heavy fines.

Patanjali’s counsel, court documents say, then assured that “henceforth, there shall not be any violation of any of the laws, especially relating to advertisement and branding of products”.

On January 15 this year, the Supreme Court received an anonymous letter addressed to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud with copies marked to Justice Kohli and Justice Amanullah. The letter mentioned misleading advertisements Patanjali continued to put out. IMA’s counsel, Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, also showed the court newspaper advertisements after the November 21, 2023 warning and transcript of a press conference by Ramdev and Balkrishna after the court’s hearing.

The court then sought a reply from Patanjali on why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against it.

On March 19, the court was told that Patanjali had not filed the reply to the contempt notice. It then asked Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear in person. The court came down heavily on Ramdev and Balkrishna in its April 2 hearing for their “absolute defiance” over not filing proper affidavits over the misleading advertisements. The apologies that followed were rejected on April 10 after the Supreme Court that they were sent to the media first.

The court noted that their apologies were “not heartfelt” and “more of a lip service”. In a hearing on April 16, the two were asked to demonstrate their intent to apologise.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned for July the hearing of a plea filed by yoga guru Ramdev to club FIRs lodged against him in different states over his alleged remarks that allopathy cannot cure Covid-19.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti granted two weeks’ to the states of Bihar and Chhattisgarh to inform it about the status of the first information reports (FIRs) and the chargesheet filed.

It also granted Ramdev’s counsel liberty to implead the complainants in the case before the top court and posted the matter to July.

Ramdev approached the top court seeking protection in criminal FIRs lodged against him in various states over his alleged remarks on efficacy of allopathy in the treatment of Covid-19.

The yoga guru’s plea sought clubbing of FIRs and the transfer of cases lodged against him to Delhi. The plea also sought a stay on the proceedings in multiple cases lodged against him and had also sought protection from coercive actions in FIRs lodged by Indian Medical Associations (IMA) Patna and Raipur branches and transfer the FIRs to Delhi.

Ramdev has been booked under Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and other provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005.

In a video, Ramdev in 2021 was allegedly heard saying, “Allopathy is a stupid science and medicines such as Remdesivir, Fabiflu, and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India have failed to treat Covid-19 patients.”

His remarks caused massive outrage and the IMA sent over a legal notice to him.

Police in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur had registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the Raipur’s IMA unit against Ramdev for allegedly spreading “false” information about the medicines being used by the medical fraternity for the treatment of Covid-19.

As per the complaint, Ramdev has been allegedly propagating false information and his threatening statements on social media against medicines being used by the medical fraternity, Government of India, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other frontline organisations in the treatment of Covid-19.

The complaint had said there are several videos of Ramdev on social media in which he had allegedly made such misleading remarks.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Yoga guru Ramdev (centre) arrives at the Supreme Court for hearing on the Patanjali misleading advertisements case, in New Delhi, on April 10, 2024
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accept a second round of apologies from self-styled yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Patanjali Ayurved Limited, and its managing director Acharya Balkrishna in a contempt case, flagging concern about Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies playing with the health of the gullible public while government fails to crack the whip.

“The victim is always the public. We are concerned with all those FMCG companies who are taking their consumers and clients up and down the garden path, showing them very rosy pictures about what their products can do for them. People who pay good money for these products finally end up suffering at the cost of their health… That is absolutely unacceptable,” Justice Hima Kohli observed.

Editorial | Dangerous game: On Patanjali Ayurved’s claims

The Bench, also comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, said the objectionable and misleading advertisements by Patanjali Ayurved to cure everything from diabetes and obesity to liver dysfunction, and even COVID-19 during the months of the pandemic, were “deliberate and wilful violations” of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act of 1954 and its Rules.

The apex court had initiated contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved and Mr. Balkrishna on February 27 for violating an undertaking given to it in November 2023 that they would refrain from advertising “cures” in violation of the 1954 Act. On November 21, the apex court had directed the company to not make any “casual statements” to the print or electronic media about the efficacy of their medicinal products or indulge in any disparaging statements about other disciplines of medicine, including allopathy. However, the very next day, Mr. Ramdev had held a press conference.

“We are thinking, why we should not treat your apology with the same disdain in which you treated the undertaking given to this court?” Justice Kohli addressed senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the proposed contemnors.

Justice Amanullah remarked the apology came from the trio only after “the writing was plain on the wall”.

Justice Kohli said their conduct, when faced with contempt action, changed from hubris to abject surrender when they found themselves cornered.

In its order, the court recorded that the contemnors, Mr. Ramdev and Mr. Balkrishna, had tried to “wriggle out” of personally appearing in the apex court.

Justice Amanullah said it was conduct like this that made a mockery of the Supreme Court, with the public claiming that judges were sitting in an ivory tower.

The court made it clear that it would direct action against every person or authority who had broken the law, without mercy.

“Why should we show mercy when the public is cheated by medicines touted as a cure?” Justice Kohli asked. The court listed the contempt case for April 16.

The hearing saw the court turn its ire on the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority for choosing to turn a blind eye to the misleading advertisments.

“You twiddled your thumbs… Why should we not come down like a ton of bricks on your officers? They have been filibustering… You were in deep slumber from 2018, when the first complaint came about their products, to 2024,” Justice Kohli told a senior official from the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority who was present in the courtroom.

The official said he would file an First Information Report (FIR) now. Justice Amanullah, in a sarcastic tone, said he need not bother after so many years.

“Now you have woken up to a statute which is the law of the land?” Justice Kohli asked the State government.

The court said the assurances of the State government to move against Patanjali under the 1954 Act, and the apology of the three proposed contemnors were “not worth the paper they were written on”.

The court directed the State Licensing Authority officers-in-charge, the present one and his predecessor, to file detailed affidavits on why action had not been taken against Patanjali Ayurved under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act.

It further directed all the officers who had served as District Ayurvedic and Unani Officers, Haridwar, from the period between 2018 to 2024, to file affidavits explaining their inaction against Patanjali Ayurved under the law. The court has listed this part of the case on April 23.

In the previous hearing on April 2, the court had questioned the government for “shutting its eyes” while Patanjali Ayurved “tom-tommed” its wares as panacea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its affidavit, the Centre responded that the Interdisciplinary Technical Review Committee for COVID-19 had raised “ethical concerns”, and recommended in its report in December 2020 that Patanjali Ayurved’s ‘Coronil’ “may be used as a supporting measure for COVID-19 without claiming cure”.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved’s co-founder Ramdev and Managing Director Balakrishna for their “absolute defiance” in not filing proper affidavits over the company’s misleading advertisements.

“Not just the Supreme Court, every order passed by the courts across this country has to be respected. This is absolute defiance,” the top court said.

The top court observed that advertisements issued by Patanjali are in the “teeth of law” of the land. ” Be ready for action,” the Supreme Court told Ramdev.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also refused to accept an apology tendered by Patanjali last month after the top court rap during the earlier hearing. “We are not happy with your apology,” Justice Kohli said.

“You should have made sure that the solemn undertaking should have been in letter and spirit. We can also say that we are sorry for not accepting it. Your apology is not persuading this court. It is more of a lip service,” the Supreme Court said.

After which, Ramdev’s lawyer said both Ramdev and Balakrishna are ready to personally apologise in the court. “We want to apologise and are ready for whatever the court says,” Senior advocate Balbir Singh told the court with folded hands.

The bench granted last opportunity to Ramdev and Balkrishna to file their affidavits in the matter in one week.

The Supreme Court also pulled up the Centre for not taking action and said they were sitting with their eyes shut. “We are wondering why the government chose to keep their eyes shut ,” the bench had said.

The Supreme Court has asked Ramdev and Balkrishna to be present in the court on April 10 – the next date of hearing in the case.

The Supreme Court last month had severely criticised Patanjali for failing to obey its directives and directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to be personally present before the court today.

On February 27, the top court had directed the company to stop all electronic and print advertisements of its medicines giving misleading” information with immediate effect.

The case began in November last year when the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), cautioned Patanjali Ayurved against making “false” and “misleading” claims in advertisements about its medicines.

IMA had referred to several advertisements which allegedly projected the allopathy and the doctors in poor light, saying that “disparaging” statements have also been made by firms, engaged in the production of ayurvedic medicines, to mislead the general public.

These commercials say that the medical practitioners themselves are dying despite taking modern medicines, the counsel for the IMA had said.

New Delhi:

Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali Ayurved and an aide of Yoga guru Ramdev, has apologised to the Supreme Court for the company’s misleading claims about its products and their medicinal efficacy.

The affidavit was filed yesterday, a day after the court came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for not responding to a contempt notice over misleading advertisements. The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah had asked Balkrishna and Ramdev to appear in court on April 2.

In an affidavit filed in the court, Mr Balkrishna has said he has the highest regards for the rule of law. Extending an “unqualified apology”, he said the company will “ensure that such advertisements are not issued in the future”.

Mr Balkrishna clarified that the company’s “intention is only to exhort the citizens of this country to lead a healthier life by consuming products” of Patanjali, including those “for lifestyle ailments through the use age old literature and materials supplementing and backed by ayurvedic research”.

He also said that provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, which prohibits advertisements of magic cure claims, is “archaic” and the last changes in the legislation were made when “scientific evidence in Ayurveda research were lacking”. Patanjali, the affidavit said, now has “evidence-based scientific data with clinical research

conducted in Ayurveda, which would demonstrate the advances made through scientific research in the context of diseases mentioned in the said schedule”.

“In light of the same it is humbly submitted that the Deponent’s only quest is for a better and healthier life for each and every citizen and to reduce the burden on the countries healthcare infrastructure by providing holistic, evidence based solutions for lifestyle related medical complications through the usage of age old traditional approach of Ayurveda and Yoga (sic),” it added.

Founded in 2006 by Mr Ramdev and Mr Balkrishna, Patanjali Ayurved is a multinational conglomerate that manufactures a long list of products, ranging from ayurvedic medicine to cosmetics to food items.

The conglomerate has run into trouble over misleading advertisements about the efficacy of their products.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court came down heavily on Patanjali, citing its failure to respond to a notice for contempt proceedings. The court directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear before it. It also noted that Patanjali Ayurved’s advertisements were in the teeth of an undertaking given to the court last year.

On November 21 last year, Patanjali’s counsel had assured the court that “henceforth there shall not be any violation of any law(s), especially relating to advertising or branding of products manufactured and marketed by it and, further, that no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine will be released to the media in any form”.

The Supreme Court is hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) that alleged a smear campaign by Ramdev against the Covid vaccination drive and modern medicine.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for failing to respond to a contempt notice for issuing misleading advertisements and ordered yoga guru Ramdev to appear before it.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also summoned Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna.

The Supreme Court last month pulled up Patanjali for prima facie violation of its assurances about its products and statements claiming their medicinal efficacy. The court had issued a notice to Patanjali and Balkrishna, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

Read | Supreme Court Warns Ramdev, Patanjali, Tells Them To Stop “Misleading” Ads

It noted today that Patanjali did not file a response even though it had held a press conference after its previous order. “Why haven’t you filed your response yet? We will ask the managing director to appear in the court during the next hearing,” the court said.

The order states both Ramdev and Balakrishna were prima facie in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Remedies Act, which deal with misleading ads of medicines.

The court also issued a contempt notice to Ramdev, co-founder of Patanjali, and asked him to explain why he should not face action for contempt of court.

Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Patanjali Ayurved, opposed the move and sought to know, “How Ramdev comes into the picture?”

Read | “Entire Country Is Being Taken For A Ride”: Supreme Court On Patanjali

“You are appearing. We will see on the next date. Enough,” the court replied.

“We had our hands tied earlier but not now. As an officer of the court, you (Mr Rohatgi) should know your position,” said Justice Amanullah.

The court was hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.

On February 27, it had issued a contempt notice to Patanjali and cautioned them against from making any statements against any system of medicine in the media. It had also pulled up the centre for not taking action and said they were sitting with their eyes closed.