The Supreme Court has dismissed the Indian Medical Association (IMA)’s petition concerning misleading advertisements related to traditional medicine, thereby providing relief to Patanjali. The IMA initially filed the petition, arguing that Patanjali Ayurveda made deceptive claims in its advertisements and criticized modern medicine. The case is linked to an earlier regulatory change.
On July 1, 2024, the Ministry of AYUSH altered a rule within the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. Previously, businesses were required to obtain approval from state licensing authorities before promoting Ayurvedic, Siddha, or Unani medicines to avoid false claims. This requirement was later removed by the amendment.
The case then came before Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta in August 2024, who halted the changes, temporarily reintroducing the approval process. However, Justice K.V. Viswanathan questioned how state governments could implement rules already removed by the central government. Subsequently, Justice B.V. Nagarathna proposed that the case be closed.
The court emphasized that it could not reinstate provisions that the central government had already removed. The court had previously taken action regarding misleading advertisements, the lack of regulatory oversight against Patanjali, and the actions of Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna. Contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved were also initiated, which were later dismissed.