The Supreme Court has instructed the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to ensure that Patanjali Ayurved withdraws all ‘misleading’ advertisements from social media, electronic media and other platforms.
This order specifically targets 14 products of the company whose licenses were revoked by the Uttarakhand licensing authority.
This case, heard by a bench led by Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta, was initiated by the IMA, who accused Patanjali of disseminating deceptive and misleading medical advertisements. The court decided that no promotions for these 14 medicines should be aired or published by the company.
While senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Patanjali, informed the court that digital advertisements had been withdrawn, Justice Kohli proved for further information on the steps taken beyond internal actions. Specifically, she inquired about efforts to notify social media platfforms and other intermediaries about the license suspensions.
Furthermore, Advocate PS Patwalia, who represented the IMA, emphasized that although the licenses had been initially suspended, they had been reinstated on May 17. Thus, the court instructed the Uttarakhand licensing authority to file an affidavit within two weeks, detailing the licensing procedures.
Progressing further, Justice Kohli also appointed advocate Shadan Farasat as amicus curiae to investigate the level of functioning of the Drugs and Licensing Authority amid rising concerns over Patanjali’s efforts to remove misleading ads.
The Supreme Court was also informed that IMA president Dr. RV Asokan issued an unconventional apology for his previous statements criticizing the Supreme Court across IMA’s monthly magazine, website and other news agencies.
