Why in News ?
Patanjali Ayurved on 9th July told the Supreme Court it has stopped selling 14 products whose manufacturing licences were suspended by a state authority in Uttarakhand in April.
Today’s News :
The company, founded by yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, told a bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta it has asked 5,606 franchise stores to withdraw the products.
The court told the company to file an affidavit in two weeks confirming that advertisements for its banned medicines have been removed from media platforms. It stressed that the advertisement industry should not suffer due to its earlier directions telling advertisers to file self-declaration forms on the nature of ads.
The court had in May told broadcasters to file the self-declaration on the Broadcast Seva portal run by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B Ministry). It ordered the central government to set up a new portal for filing such self-declaration forms for advertisements in print media.
Television, radio, and internet associations then filed applications to intervene in the proceedings, saying the court’s directions would affect the advertising industry.
The court on Tuesday told the Centre to meet with stakeholders and senior I&B Ministry officials to resolve issues faced by advertisers. It also said that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs should be made a party.
As multiple parties were connected to the case, the scope of the petition has expanded beyond misleading advertisements, the court observed and appointed lawyer Shadan Farasat as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist it in the matter.
What is the Patanjali-IMA case ?
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Patanjali against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.
The Supreme Court had said that Patanjali should not be allowed to sell products for which licences were suspended. “If licence is suspended, the product should not be sold. We have to give a notice (otherwise)! The moment it is suspended, from that day they cannot do. The same should be on hold. Take it off,” Justice Amanullah had said.
The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority had earlier told the apex court that manufacturing licences of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy have been “suspended with immediate effect”.
The apex court had on May 14 reserved its order on the contempt notice issued to yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd in the misleading advertisements case.
“We want to point out to you, that your misleading ads about your products that have now been prohibited…are still available on various channels on the internet – what are you doing to bring them down?” Supreme Court had asked.