Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balkrishna received relief on Tuesday as the Supreme Court closed contempt proceedings against them in a case involving misleading advertisements related to Patanjali products. However, the court issued a stern warning to the duo, cautioning them against any future violations of court orders.
The bench, comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sandeep Mehta, accepted the apologies tendered by Ramdev and Balkrishna but made it clear that any further disregard for court orders would not be tolerated. “We expressly and strictly warn them that they will not do anything in violation of the court orders, as has happened earlier in this case. We have come down heavily and warn that this should not be done in the future,” the court stated in its order.
The court emphasized the importance of truthfulness in the affidavits submitted to the judiciary. “The affidavits tendered before this court should be done with full truth. We close the contempt proceedings initiated against the party with the warning of adhering to the orders passed by this court in this case. The notice issued to the present contemnor also stands discharged and closed,” the court added.
The contempt proceedings stemmed from allegations that Patanjali, under Ramdev and Balkrishna’s leadership, had misled the public through advertisements, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Patanjali launched Coronil, a drug that Ramdev touted as the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19.” The company also falsely claimed that Coronil was certified by the World Health Organization (WHO), a statement that the Indian Medical Association (IMA) quickly refuted as a “blatant lie.”
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The controversy deepened when Ramdev, in a subsequent video, dismissed allopathy as a “stupid and bankrupt science.” This led the IMA to send a legal notice demanding an apology, to which Patanjali responded by stating that Ramdev had merely been reading from a forwarded WhatsApp message and bore no ill-will toward modern medicine.
In August 2022, the IMA escalated the issue by filing a petition against Patanjali after the company published an advertisement claiming its products could cure a range of ailments, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and liver cirrhosis. The doctors’ association accused Patanjali of engaging in a “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation.”
On November 21 of last year, the Supreme Court warned Patanjali against making such claims and threatened to impose heavy fines. Patanjali’s counsel assured the court that the company would adhere to all relevant laws, particularly those concerning advertising and product branding.
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However, in January this year, the Supreme Court received an anonymous letter alleging that Patanjali continued to disseminate misleading advertisements. This prompted the court to demand an explanation from Patanjali, with contempt proceedings being considered after the company failed to file a timely reply.
In a hearing on April 2, the court criticized Ramdev and Balkrishna for their “absolute defiance” in not submitting proper affidavits regarding the misleading advertisements. The initial apologies offered by Patanjali were rejected by the court, which noted that these apologies were first sent to the media before being presented in court.
Subsequently, when Patanjali issued an apology in newspapers, the court questioned whether the size of the apology matched that of the company’s full-page advertisements. In response, Patanjali published larger apologies in all major newspapers.
With the case now closed, the Supreme Court’s warning serves as a significant reminder to Patanjali and its leaders to comply strictly with legal and ethical standards in their advertising practices.
