The Supreme Court has temporarily shut down all Patanjali Ayurveda ads—for essentially lying to the public. Why now—and will it slow irrepressible Baba Ramdev down?
Researched by: Nirmal Bhansali
What happened in the Supreme Court?
How it all began: In August 2022, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed a petition in the Supreme Court, after Patanjali put out large newspaper ads—that resembled articles. The title: ‘Misconceptions Spread By Allopathy’. You can see an example below:
The ads made all sorts of tall claims—of curing everything from fatty liver to diabetes, high blood pressure, infertility and glaucoma—with colourful sounding products called Panchakarma, Punarnava juice etc. All of this accompanied by equal fanciful allegations about allopathic medicines—which were dismissed as either ineffective or tarred as toxic.
What IMA said: The association called these ads a “continuous, systematic and unabated spread of misinformation”—which caused grave public harm:
The petition details other instances where Ramdev called allopathy a “stupid and bankrupt science”, and made claims about allopathic medicine being responsible for Covid-19 deaths. The IMA also accused Patanjali of contributing to vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic by spreading false rumours.
The warning: On November 21, the Court warned Patanjali from making any more misleading claims—and threatened to impose a fine of Rs 1 crore on every falsely advertised product. The Patanjali lawyer promised the company will mend its ways. But soon after, Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna held a press conference—repeating all the false claims. And the company continued to run ads doing the same.
What happened now: At the hearing last week, furious Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah exclaimed “the entire country has been taken for a ride”—and imposed a sweeping ban on any further advertising:
For now, the Court’s ruling has placed a temporary ban on all forms of advertisements for Patanjali’s medicinal products, and refused to even allow ads “without adjectives.” It reiterated the earlier warning about smearing modern medicine treatments, noting that “allopathy cannot be degraded/defamed in the eyes of the public like this.
The Court also issued a notice to Patanjali Ayurved and Balkrishna to explain why action should not be taken against them for contempt of court.
Isn’t Ayurveda like beauty products—you can say anything?
No, claims to cure cancer, diabetes etc. are different from pretending to give you glowing skin or prevent hair loss. There are a number of far stricter laws specifically designed to prevent companies from selling you snake oil (which, fyi, was the Chinese equivalent of an Ayurvedic cure).
The Consumer Protection Act: is one of the most important laws to define misleading advertisements—and declared them a crime in 2019. Section 89 imposes a variety of penalties for false advertisements—up to two years in prison and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh.
Drugs & cosmetic laws: Rule 106 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules (1945) prohibits any drug from falsely claiming to prevent or cure specific diseases listed in something called Schedule J—such as diabetes, liver disorders or cancer. In other words, all that Patanjali ads have been doing for years.
The recently inserted Rule 170 specifically namechecks the Ayurvedic industry:
[T}he manufacturer or his agent, of Ayurvedic, Siddha or Unani drugs, shall not participate in the publication of any advertisement relating to any drug for the use of diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease, disorder, syndrome or condition.
Plus this: The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act bans advertisements for the “diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease, disorder or condition specified in the Schedule.”
But, but, but: None of these are enforced with any kind of regularity. Between August 2018 to June 2021, there were 14,876 reported instances of misleading advertisements selling Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy products—most were not investigated or prosecuted.
Ok, then how come he wasn’t prosecuted before?
The company has gotten away with flagrant violations for years—primarily due to technicalities—according to industry experts.
One: Ramdev’s most successful marketing channel was his yoga sessions on TV:
Mr. Ramdev’s role in the company may also exempt him from scrutiny — he is the brand ambassador but does not hold a legal stake in Patanjali Ayurved. “He is a sanyasi (monk). He does not hold any position in the company and is only a yoga guru,” [Patanjali lawyer] Mr. Sanghi told the Supreme Court when asked about Ramdev’s position in the company.
This is how Ramdev marketed eye drops that claim to cure glaucoma—which, btw, is incurable as per modern science:
Even cattle are not safe from Baba’s yoga sessions:
Ramdev and Balkrishna converse about how good Patanjali’s cattle feed is and how they can double the milk output of cows. Listening to them are more than a thousand middle-aged followers from the farming community who are attending a five-day yoga camp (attendees pay a fee of Rs 1,000-2,000 per day for such yoga camps), besides millions of television viewers. A new range of cattle feed will be launched soon, the duo says.
Two: Often, Ramdev is careful to recommend these ‘cures’ in combination with other yoga therapies or lifestyle changes: “They’re playing safe. They can easily say that if something doesn’t work, you might not have done, say, yoga correctly...These are borderline violations. There’s no 100% contravention.”
Three: Enforcement of existing laws is appallingly weak. Ramdev isn’t the only offender to get away scot free:
For decades, the prohibitions under the DMR Act have been more flouted rather than respected. Seeing countless advertisements for treating and curing any number of conditions displayed in newspapers, and the electronic media, consumers have become inured to risks.
And as Shailaja Chandra points out, unlike chemists who sell allopathic medicine, those who hawk potentially dangerous Ayurveda cures are unregulated:
But unlike chemists dispensing allopathic drugs whose credentials are checked (notwithstanding several gaps), selling ASU medicine requires no sale licence and all pharmacists, and even general stores and groceries, have the latitude to sell these drugs, possessing zero knowledge of the drug use, dosage, or ingredients — including presence of heavy metals.
Four: The government has little appetite to punish Ramdev—who has been a loyal and vocal supporter. Ramdev’s rigorous peddling of traditional medicine—wrapped in patriotic rhetoric—dovetails neatly with the BJP’s own ideology:
Ramdev, who is perceived to be an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has called Western medicine a “stupid and bankrupt science.” Patanjali’s chairman accused Ayurveda sceptics of being “part of the conspiracy to convert the entire country into Christianity.”
And it’s hard to go after Ramdev when the PM himself has endorsed his products—and even inaugurated his “medical research institute.”
The main takeaway: In the end, Ramdev got into trouble not for making false claims about his products—but for false allegations about the medicines. That’s the only reason why the IMA got involved. No one messes with Indian doctors.
The bottomline: Today, almost any kind of quack cure or treatment can be sold as ‘ayurvedic’. And there's a lot of money in doing so. The market for Indian Ayurvedic products is projected to top $20 billion over the next five years.
Reading list
On the lawsuit, we recommend reading NewLaundry and The Hindu. Bloomberg News has the best reporting on the Ayurveda boom under BJP. This older New York Times deep dive is good at capturing Ramdev’s murky path to becoming an Ayurveda tycoon. Finshots explains why the troubles of Patanjali Ayurveda will do little to dent the rising fortunes of Patanjali Foods.
