The Indian Supreme Court has criticised the government for not taking legal action against Patanjali Ayurved, a company that continues to make false claims in advertisements that its product can cure COVID-19.
Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah questioned the Centre’s lack of action over Patanjali’s claims regarding the effectiveness of its products and criticism of allopathy, particularly during the peak of the COVID pandemic.
The court also wondered why the Union government did not act against the company despite its own committee’s statement that Patanjali’s products should only be used as supplements to other medicines.
The Indian Medical Association filed a plea alleging that Patanjali’s advertisements attacked allopathy and made claims about curing certain diseases during the pandemic. The court stressed the need for the Union and state governments to dispel any suspicion of complicity in this matter.
The court also criticised Baba Ramdev for violating its directives on misleading advertisements and rejected Ramdev and the firm’s managing director Acharya Balkrishna’s apology, calling it “lip service” and warning them against perjury. Both Ramdev and Balkrishna were present in court earlier today in connection with show cause notices questioning why contempt proceedings shouldn’t be pursued against them.
The court granted them a final week to submit affidavits, taking strong note of their “absolute defiance” in not adhering to the undertaking given before it in the case filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
