The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Yoga guru Baba Ramdev to appear in person over Patanjali Ayurved's "misleading ads" in two-weeks' time. Patanjali Ayurved's Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna has also been asked to appear.
On February 27, the Supreme Court restrained Patanjali Ayurved from publishing advertisements of medicines produced by it for ailments like blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, asthma and obesity, amongst others. It issued a contempt notice against Patanjali Ayurved and its Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna.
The contempt notice followed a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against Patanjali Ayurved's alleged dissemination of misleading advertisements.
On Tuesday, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Amanullah took note of the fact that a response was not filed in the case despite previous directions.
The court not only asked Baba Ramdev to appear before it in person, but also issued a notice asking why he should not be prosecuted for contempt of court.
During the hearing, the court asked Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing on behalf of Baba Ramdev, why they had not filed their response to the contempt notice yet.
"Now we will ask your client to appear in court. Now we will make Baba Ramdev also a party. Both will be asked to appear in court," the bench said.
The court also said that it was not going to postpone the hearing of the case.
The bench reprimanded the Union Ayush Ministry for filing a response just a day earlier.
To this, the Centre told the court that it needed more time to file a proper response. The Supreme Court then asked the Centre to file a fresh affidavit.
