Ban imposed by SC on Patanjali Products for Advertisement

Context

Recently, the Apex court of India has imposed a ban on Patanjali Products from being advertised in the market in any form till further order. This has happened on the agenda that Patanjali Products were having misleading advertisements despite the assurance given by Baba Ramdev to the court in late 2023 that “no causal statements regarding medical efficacy” will go to the media.

About Patanjali & its Products

• “Patanjali” is the official brand of Baba Ramdev’s empire of alternative medicines. This brand is completely owned and managed by the founder Baba Ramdev.
• Under the Patanjali Brand, they used to produce and marketize almost all types of products which are the daily and important needs of the people.
• Its official headquarter is in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India, where the entire research and development of it on alternative medicine is being done under the supervision of Baba Ramdev and the products are being distributed nationally and internationally across almost all the communities.

Details about the Ban Imposed by SC on the advertisement of Patanjali Products

• It is alleged that; Patanjali Ayurveda of Baba Ramdev is publishing misleading advertisements in the market.
• It is alleged that, Patanjali brand directly criticises and diminishes the allopathic medicines on which people today almost completely rely for their medical requirement.
• The Supreme Court banned Patanjali Products from advertising till further orders are passed by it.

Highlights on Allegations against Patanjali

• During August 2022, Patanjali published an advertisement whose name was “MISCONCEPTIONS SPREAD BY ALLOPATHY: SAVE YOURSELF AND SAVE THE COUNTRY FROM THE MISCONCEPTIONS SPREAD BY PHARMA AND MEDICAL INDUSTRY.”
• Indian Medical Association (IMA) states that, the above attack by Baba Ramdev is against modern medicine in a systematic manner.
• As per IMA, the advertisement which was done by Patanjali was an advertisement that is in direct violation of Drugs and Other Magical Remedies Act, 1954 (DOMA) and the consumer protection Act, 2019 (CPA). And the publishing of false and misleading advertisements is also an offer under both the statues.

Supreme Court’s Action on this

In this context, the supreme court has warned Patanjali regarding these false and misleading advertisements and finally on 27th Feb 2024, it took the final escalated step as per the court’s own discipline.

Conclusion

Given the context, it is evident that, since the Patanjali attacked Govt. directly and in a straightforward cum systematic way to blame modern medicines, the supreme court of India despite multiple warnings to Patanjali, finally issued a ban on the advertisements of products till further order on 19th March 2024.

Source: The Indian Express

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q.Compare and contrast the economic impact of Modern medicine and Patanjali medicine for their respective value and commitment in the market.

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