Kerala court issues bailable arrest warrant against Baba Ramdev in misleading ads case
Kerala court issues bailable arrest warrant against Baba Ramdev in misleading ads case
A bailable warrant issued by the Judicial First Class Magistrate II, Palakkad, against yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev, his accomplice Acharya Balkrishna, and Divya Pharmacy, the marketing arm of their Haridwar-based Ayurvedic drug manufacturing company Patanjali Ayurved, is the first such step being initiated against them in Kerala in the misleading advertisement case.
The warrant was issued on January 16. The case against Mr. Ramdev, Mr. Balkrishna, and their company was registered in the Palakkad court in October 2024. Though the court had earlier issued summons to the accused to appear on January 16, they failed to turn up. The case relates to the company carrying misleading advertisements on its healthcare products in the news media in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. The advertisements claimed that the Patanjali products could cure high blood pressure and diabetes.
Similar cases are pending against them in courts in Kozhikode and Haridwar in Uttarakhand as well and summons had been issued multiple times. However, they have not appeared before the courts as yet. The case in the Palakkad court is now posted to February 1. At least 10 cases have been registered against them in Kerala (four in Kozhikode, three in Palakkad, two in Ernakulam, and one in Thiruvananthapuram) and one in Uttarakhand (Haridwar).
The issuing of the bailable warrant also comes a day after the Supreme Court warned States and Union Territories of contempt action for hesitating to initiate proceedings against offending individuals and companies which give misleading medical advertisements. The apex court Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued the warning on January 15 after senior lawyer Shadan Farasat, amicus curiae, submitted a status report on the implementation of statutes against misleading advertisements, including the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and the Consumer Protection Act.
