Patanjali Ads Case: Supreme Court Raises Concerns Over FMCG Firms Misleading Consumers

The Supreme Court expressed deep concern over fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies deceiving consumers and compromising public health through misleading advertisements. The court’s remarks came during a hearing where it refused to accept an apology affidavit submitted by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.’s Managing Director and co-founder in a case related to misleading ads.

The Bench, comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, addressed Patanjali and extended its reservations to all FMCG companies. The Court emphasised that the issue was not limited to the contemnors in question but extended to all companies engaging in deceptive practices.

“We are concerned with all those FMCGs and all those companies who are taking their consumers and clients up the garden path and showing them some very rosy pictures of what their product can do for them…and ending up with those people who are paying good money for it, suffering at the cost of their health. This is absolutely unacceptable,” the bench stated.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Balbir Singh, representing yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s interests, acknowledged the need for broader guidelines to regulate the larger consumer base and industry. However, the court remained firm in its stance.

The issue of public health emerged prominently during the proceedings, with Justice Kohli highlighting the significant impact of such deceptive practices on public well-being. “These are major fault lines, and the victim of these fault lines is not the profit of your companies but the health of the public,” Justice Kohli remarked.

On April 10, the Supreme Court ripped into Patanjali founders Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna for misleading consumers with false advertising. Rejecting the repeated apologies submitted by the Patanjali cofounders, the top court also blasted the Uttarakhand government for its continuous inaction against Patanjali. An order was issued to suspend three officers for the same. Noting the physical absence of both Baba Ramdev and Balakrishna, the court also criticised the state licencing authority and the central government for their failure to address the issue.

Last year, in November, the court warned Patanjali Ayurveda, co-owned by Baba Ramdev, against making “false” and “misleading” claims in advertisements about its products, primarily medicines.