New Delhi: The Supreme Court issued a scathing rebuke to Patanjali Ayurved on Tuesday, criticising the company for its failure to respond to a contempt notice regarding misleading advertisements. Yoga guru Ramdev, the face of Patanjali, has been ordered to appear before the court, along with Patanjali’s managing director, Acharya Balkrishna.
Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah presided over the bench that summoned Ramdev and Balkrishna. This action comes after the Supreme Court’s previous reprimand of Patanjali last month, citing apparent violations of the undertaking the company had provided in court regarding its products and their medicinal claims.
In response to the court’s notice last month, Patanjali and Balkrishna were asked to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them. However, Patanjali failed to file any response to the notice, prompting the Supreme Court’s strong reaction.
“Why haven’t you filed your response yet? We will ask the managing director to appear in the court during the next hearing,” the Supreme Court stated on Tuesday.
The court’s order specified that both Ramdev and Balkrishna were prima facie in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Remedies Act, which pertain to misleading advertisements of medicines. In addition to summoning Ramdev and Balkrishna, the court issued a contempt notice to Ramdev himself, calling on him to explain why he should not face action for contempt of court.
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