Supreme Court closes contempt of court proceedings against Patanjali, Baba Ramdev

In a big relief to Patanjali Ayurved and its founders Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, the Supreme Court dropped the contempt of court charges against them[In Re: Patanjali Ayurved Limited Through its Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna and Baba Ramdev]..Ramdev and Acharya had earlier faced strictures from the top court for the company's misleading advertisements against evidence-based medicine. They had been found to be in breach of their earlier statement that they would not telecast or publish such misleading ads.The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah today pronounced the judgment and closed the contempt of court proceedings.The Ayurved company and its founders had sought pardon from the top court for the breach. Ramdev had also apologised for his November 2023 press conference wherein he had spoken about the case after the Court had passed strictures against Patanjali Ayurved.They had also published apologies in newspapers. "...we are of the opinion that though the initial conduct of the proposed contemnors prior to their tendering an apology to the Court showed that the same was in violation of the undertakings given to this Court, subsequent thereto, after they tendered an unqualified apology to this Court, efforts have been made by them to take steps to make amends. This was not only by expressing regret for their conduct on affidavit and in person, but also by taking steps to publicize the apology tendered by them through advertisements published prominently in the National and Regional newspapers. Given the attendant facts and circumstances of the case and the effort made by the proposed contemnors to absolve themselves of acts that amounted to breach of undertakings given to this Court, we are inclined to accept the apology tendered by them and close the matter," the Court observed while closing the contempt proceedings..However, the Court warned the contemnors to strictly abide by the terms of their undertakings given to the court."Any future intransigence on their part, whether by act, deed or speech that could tantamount to violating the orders of the Court or dishonouring the terms of the undertakings, shall be viewed strictly and the ensuing consequences could indeed be grave. In that eventuality, the sword of contempt that has now been returned to rest in its sheath, shall be flourished as swiftly as these proceedings were originally initiated," the Court emphasised..The Supreme Court initiated the case based on a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the alleged smear campaign against the COVID-19 vaccination drive and modern medicine. .In February this year, the Court imposed a temporary ban on such advertisements and issued contempt of court notices to the company and Balkrishna for making misleading claims.In November 2023, the Supreme Court had threatened to impose costs of ₹1 crore per false claim made in each advertisement for Patanjali Ayurved products that claim to cure diseases.The top court had then also directed Patanjali not to publish false advertisements in the future..The Court's focus in this case was initially on Patanjali's misleading ads, the failure of regulatory authorities to act against Patanjali, and the corrective steps to be taken by Patanjali and its promoters (Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna).However, the Court's attention was later drawn to several larger issues, including misleading advertisements by other consumer goods suppliers as well as unethical practices in modern medicine.The Bench had also warned that social media influencers and celebrities would be held equally responsible and liable if they are found endorsing products or services in misleading advertisements.It had taken critical note of the fact that such ads for Patanjali products, which have now been prohibited, were still available on certain online platforms. The Court had also said that the company should not be allowed to sell products for which licences were suspended.It had also pulled up the Uttarakhand government for being hand-in-glove with errant licensing officers while failing to take action in this regard, after which apologies followed..Interestingly, the petitioner side in the case is also under fire. The IMA President Dr. RV Asokan on August 06 was asked by the top court to publish apologies in all prominent newspapers for his statements criticising the Supreme Court.During one of the hearing, the apex court had asked the doctors to put their own house in order and curb unethical practices in modern medicine.In comments made to the press later, IMA President Dr. RV Asokan had said that it was "unfortunate" that the Supreme Court criticised the IMA and that doctors were demoralised due to the same.The bench of Justices Kohli and Amanullah had taken strong exception to the statement give by Asokan..Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Vipin Sanghi, Balbir Singh, advocates Simranjeet Singh, Gautam Talukdar, Raushal Kumar, Apurbaa Dutta, Neha Gupta, Smita Jain, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Gandhi, Naman Tandon and Yajat Gulia, appeared for the contemnors..[Read Judgment]