In a relief for Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balakrishna, the Supreme Court on Tuesday closed the contempt case against them after accepting their undertakings to cease issuing misleading advertisements and making other claims regarding Patanjali Ayurved products.
The Court had initiated a contempt case while hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against Ramdev’s remarks against modern medicine.
Earlier, Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna were reprimanded by the Supreme Court after it was found that some of Patanjali’s advertisements were misleading and in breach of a court undertaking.
Today, the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah pronounced the judgment and dropped the contempt charges against Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.
The division bench had reserved its verdict on May 14.
The Court warned the duo that if they ever breach its orders again, as they did previously, the Court will “come down heavily.”
“We accept the apology tendered by the party. However, we expressly and strictly warn them not to violate court orders as they did earlier in this case. We have taken severe action before, and we caution that such violations should not occur in the future,” Livemint quoted Justice Kohli as saying.
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In February of this year, the Court placed 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 warned that it would impose a penalty of ₹1 crore for each false claim made in advertisements for Patanjali Ayurved products that claimed to cure diseases.
