Supreme Court orders IMA to make sure Patanjali takes down misleading ads

On 9th July 2024, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) received a request from the Supreme Court (SC) demanding that Patanjali Ayurved remove all of its “misleading” advertisements from electronic, social, and other media. This directive specifically targets the products of 14 company products whose licenses were canceled by the licensing authorities of Uttarakhand.

The case, heard by a bench led by Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta, was initiated by the IMA, alleging Patanjali was spreading false medical advertisements. The court ordered that no promotions for the 14 medicines shall be broadcasted or published.

Patanjali’s senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi informed the court that the digital ads had been taken down. But Justice Kohli questioned the steps taken to notify social networking platforms and other middlemen about the license suspensions and sought further information on the actions taken beyond internal channels.

The IMA’s lawyer PS Patwalia clarified that although the licenses were first revoked, they were later reinstated on May 17. The Uttarakhand licensing body was ordered by the court to provide an affidavit detailing the licensing procedure within 2 weeks.

Shadan Farasat, an attorney, was selected as an amicus curiae by Justice Kohli to look into the workings of the Drugs and Licensing Authority.  This decision followed concerns about the effectiveness of Patanjali’s efforts for elimination of the deceptive advertisements.

Additionally, the court was informed that Dr. RV Asokan, the president of IMA, had apologized unconditionally for his prior remarks that had been critical of the Supreme Court. Judge Kohli took note of Dr. Asokan’s expression of sorrow in his affidavit, which was accepted.

Dr Asokan’s apology was also published in the IMA’s monthly magazine, on their website, and disseminated to news agencies. He made it clear that his remarks were made inadvertently and not meant to disrespect the court.