Supreme Court closes contempt case against Baba Ramdev

Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balakrishna today got some relief in a misleading ads case related to Patanjali products after the Supreme Court closed contempt proceedings against them. The court, however, warned them against violating court orders in the future.

The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sandeep Mehta said in their order that the court accepts the apology of Ramdev and Balakrishna. "However, we expressly and strictly warn them that they will not do any thing in violation of the court orders like it has happened earlier in this case. We have come down heavily and we warn that this should not be done in future," the order said.

"The affidavits tendered before this court should be done with full truth. We close the contempt proceedings initiated against the party with the warning of adhering to the orders passed by this court in this case. The notice issued to present contemnor also stands discharge and closed," the court added.

The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the Yoga guru and his aide for misleading ads of Patanjali products. The case is based on a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Patanjali against the Covid vaccination drive and modern medicine.

The matter dates back to the Covid years. Patanjali launched a drug, Coronil, in 2021 and Ramdev described it as the "first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19". It also claimed that Coronil had certification from WHO. Indian Medical Association disputed this claim, saying it was a "blatant lie". 

After being reprimanded by the Supreme Court in November 2023, Patanjali had assured that it would refrain from such advertisements.

However, in February, the court noted that the misleading advertisements continued and issued contempt notices to the company and managing director Balkrishna. The court also sought the personal appearance of Balkrishna and Baba Ramdev after the reply to the contempt notice was not filed. On April 16, the duo appeared before the top court and expressed an unconditional apology for publishing misleading advertisements and making comments against allopathic medicines.

The court also pulled up Acharya Balakrishna over the apology published by Patanjali in newspapers, expressing dissatisfaction with the language and its size. After the court's rap, Patanjali published another apology in newspapers and mentioned the names of Ramdev (co-founder) and Acharya Balkrishna.