A Kerala court has issued bailable warrants against Patanjali Ayurved co-founders Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna in connection with the publication of allegedly misleading advertisements by the company.
The Judicial First Class Magistrate II in Palakkad issued a warrant on January 16 after the individuals failed to appear in court, despite a prior order requiring their personal attendance, as per media reports.
The case against them includes allegations that advertisements published by Divya Pharmacy, a Patanjali Ayurved affiliate, breached the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
Divya Pharmacy is facing multiple criminal cases in Kerala for publishing advertisements that disparage modern medicine, including allopathy, and for making unsubstantiated claims about curing diseases. One of these cases is currently pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kozhikode.
Patanjali and its founders have been at the center of attention over the past two years, largely because of their advertisements.
The Supreme Court took notice of the matter following a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against Patanjali Ayurved’s advertisements.
The Supreme Court had temporarily banned advertisements for Patanjali’s medicines and issued a contempt of court notice to its founders over allegations of making misleading claims.
The Court criticised Patanjali for misleading the public by making unfounded claims that its medicines cure specific diseases, despite the absence of empirical evidence to support these assertions.
After Ramdev and Balkrishna personally appeared before the Supreme Court and offered their apologies, the court directed them to issue public apologies through newspaper publications.
In the case, the Court criticised the Central government for not invoking the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, against Patanjali. Subsequently, in August 2024, the Supreme Court concluded the contempt of court proceedings.
