Guwahati: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday reprimanded Patanjali Ayurved for persistently disseminating deceptive claims and advertisements against modern medicines and discrediting its proponents.
A bench headed by Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah said, “This is blatant infraction of law what you (Patanjali) are doing. We will take it very seriously if you keep doing this and even impose cost to the extent of Rs. 1 crore on every product.”
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The Supreme Court was listening to petitions filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
The IMA in its petition had also accused Patanjali of spreading false rumors about COVID-19 vaccines and contributing to vaccine hesitancy.
IMA had sought an order against all misleading advertisements claiming to have a cure for all ailments and discrediting doctors in the process by doubting the efficacy of allopathic medicines.
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The petition made Patanjali Ayurved as one of the respondents referring to an advertisement issued in July last year in leading newspapers, which alleged that health benefits claimed by allopathy are “nowhere to be seen” and those dependent on it are suffering from “hellish pangs” of adverse health effects.
Earlier, Swami Ramdev’s alleged mockery and derision of citizens searching for oxygen cylinders during the second wave are also cited in the petition.
In February this year, Ramdev claimed that cancer cases have increased in India after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In one of the Patanjali Yog Samiti address to the public gathering held at Miramar Beach in Goa, Ramdev said, “Cancer has increased a lot. The cases of this disease have gone up after the COVID-19 pandemic. People have lost their eyesight, their sense of hearing.” Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was also present with him on the stage.
The Supreme Court will further visit the case on February 5, 2024.