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The Uttarakhand High Court has quashed a trial court’s summons to Patanjali Ayurved and its co-founders, yoga guru Ramdev and Balkrishna, in a complaint accusing them of publishing misleading advertisements to promote various products.
In an order dated June 3, Justice Vivek Bharti Sharma allowed a petition filed by Patanjali Ayurved, Ramdev and Balkrishna under Section 582 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to quash summons issued to them by the Haridwar chief judicial magistrate.
Section 582 deals with the powers of the High Court to prevent abuse of the process of any court.
The “misleading advertisements” case stems from a complaint filed last year by Uttarakhand’s food security officer.
In the complaint, the officer cited letters from the Ministry of Ayush issued in 2022, Live Law reported.
These letters noted that several Patanjali medicines, including Madhugrit, Madhunashini and Divya Livogrit Tablet, were promoted through allegedly misleading advertisements.
The complaint alleged offenses under Sections 3, 4 and 7 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Objectionable Advertisements Act.
Section 3 of the Act prohibits the advertisement of certain drugs for the treatment of specific diseases and disorders, while Section 4 bans misleading advertisements related to drugs. Section 7 outlines the penalties for these offenses.
Justice Sharma in his order said that there was “no evidence of falsity of claim, no allegation of falsity of claim nor there is any description of manner how that is misleading”.
“Merely writing letter to the petitioner firm that the advertisement should be removed without stating specifically that the claim made in the advertisements were false, does not give reasons to prosecute the petitioner firm,” the court said.
The order also stated that there was no occasion for the trial court to take the cognisance and issue summons to the petitioners as there was no allegation about how the advertisement was false and misleading.
In April 2024, the Supreme Court had criticised the state government for not taking action against Patanjali Ayurved and its subsidiary Divya Pharmacy under the Drugs and Magic Remedies Objectionable Advertisements Act for the publication of allegedly misleading advertisements.
The state government had filed the complaint against Patanjali Ayurved, Ramdev and Balkrishna following the Supreme Court’s observations.
The High Court, in its order on June 3, observed that the state government cannot rely on the Supreme Court’s remarks in the case against Patanjali Ayurved.
The complaint had to be assessed solely on the basis of the allegations raised in it and the materials supporting it, the court added.
Also read: A brief history of Patanjali’s dangerous claims
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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