Patanjali misleading ads: Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna move Kerala court to recall arrest warrant

Patanjali Ayurved's promoters, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna have moved an application before a Kerala trial court, urging it to recall a non-bailable warrant of arrest issued against them for failing to attend a court hearing scheduled earlier this month in a misleading advertisement case against Patanjali [Drug Inspector, Palakkad v. M/s Divya Pharmacy]..An application has been filed by the duo under Section 205 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which deals with the trial courts' discretion to exempt accused persons from having to personally appear for court hearings and instead be represented by their lawyers. The Judicial First-Class Magistrate-II in Palakkad had initially issued a bailable warrant to secure their presence in court after they failed to appear for a January 16 hearing of the matter despite being summoned. The case was then posted on February 1.However, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna again failed to show up in court on February 1. This prompted the Magistrate Court to issue a non-bailable arrest warrant against them, before fixing the case for hearing on February 3. The matter was then adjourned to February 6, that is today.The application filed by Ramdev and Balkrishna to recall the non-bailable warrant against them and to exempt their physical presence during court hearings will also be heard today. .The case before the Palakkad trial court was registered on a complaint by the drugs inspector at Palakkad against Divya Pharmacy, an affiliate of Patanjali Ayurved.The case includes allegations that advertisements published by Divya Pharmacy violated the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.Multiple criminal cases across Kerala accuse Divya Pharmacy of publishing advertisements that disparage modern medicine, including allopathy, and making unsubstantiated claims of curing diseases. One such case is pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Kozhikode as well. .Over the past two years, Patanjali and its founders have been in the spotlight due to their advertisements.The issue had caught the attention of the Supreme Court when the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had filed a plea against Patanjali Ayurved over its ads.The apex court had imposed a temporary ban on advertisements of the Patanjali's medicines and issued contempt of court notice to its founders for making misleading claims.The Court had said that Patanjali has been taking the country for a ride by falsely claiming that its medicines cure certain diseases despite there being no empirical evidence for the same.After Ramdev and Balkrishna appeared before it and apologised, the apex court had ordered it to publish apologies in newspapers.During the case, the Court had also pulled up the Central government for not invoking the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules of 1945 against Patanjali.In August 2024, the Supreme Court closed the contempt of court case.