Has Misleading Ads Taken Down From Social Media: Supreme Court Asks Patanjali

The apex court on Tuesday asked yoga guru Ramdev-backed Patanjali Ayurved whether it has taken down all misleading advertisements from all media platforms.

A bench led by Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta heard the case filed by the IMA against Patanjali for publishing misleading medical advertisements. The Court stated that no advertisements for the 14 medicines whose licenses were suspended can be aired or published.

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The Supreme Court Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Patanjali told the court that it has stopped the sale of the 14 products whose manufacturing licences were suspended in April this year. It has issued directions to 5,606 franchise stores to take out these products. Besides, the company has directed electronic and print media to stop publishing advertisements for these 14 medicines, whose licences were revoked by the Uttarakhand licensing authority.

Meanwhile, advocate PS Patwalia, representing the IMA, explained that though the licences were initially suspended, they were reinstated on May 17. The Supreme court instructed the Uttarakhand licensing authority to lodge an affidavit within two weeks, indicating the licensing process.

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The court was also informed that IMA president Dr RV Asokan had issued an unconditional apology for his previous statements criticising the Supreme Court. The Justice Kohli acknowledged the affidavit submitted by Dr Asokan and accepted his regret for the remarks.

Dr Asokan’s apology was also published in the IMA’s monthly magazine, on their website, and shared with news agencies. He stated that his comments were unintentional, and were not meant to disrespect the court.

(With inputs from Business Standard)