The Supreme Court has given a major relief to yoga guru Swami Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, MD of Patanjali Ayurveda. On Tuesday, the court accepted their apology in the misleading advertisement case and closed the contempt case against them.

Court Decision

The Supreme Court has accepted the apology from Ramdev, Balkrishna, and Patanjali Ayurveda Limited. This decision also ends the contempt proceedings against them. Advocate Gautam Talukdar, who represented them, said, “The court has closed the contempt proceedings based on the assurances given by Ramdev, Balkrishna, and Patanjali Ayurveda Limited.”

Background

The case involved a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA). They accused Ramdev and others of running a campaign that discredited COVID vaccination and modern medical practices. On February 27, the court had issued a notice to Patanjali Ayurveda and its MD Balkrishna, asking why contempt proceedings should not be started against them for violating a previous court affidavit regarding their products and their medicinal claims.

On March 19, the court had issued a notice to Ramdev, stating that the advertisements by Patanjali appeared to contradict their earlier assurances given to the court.

Assurance Given

On November 21, 2023, the court noted that Patanjali’s lawyer had assured that there would be no further violations of the law. Specifically, there would be no misleading advertising or statements about medicinal effects or against any medical system.

The Supreme Court stated that Patanjali Ayurveda Limited is bound by this assurance.