: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. has been fined Rs. 11 lakh for indulging in misbranding and misleading advertising.
On August 16, 2012, the Haridwar health department’s food safety division took samples of a few Patanjali products and sent them for testing. However, when the products failed the tests, the food safety division, in November 2012, filed a case in the Haridwar Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Court against the Haridwar-based Patanjali Ayurved.
“The case went on for four years and on December 1, the ADM court asked Patanjali Ayurved to pay Rs. 11 lakh as fine for indulging in misbranding and misleading advertising,” said Haridwar Food Safety Officer Yogendra Pandey, under whom the samples were taken and sent for tests.
Not the manufacturer
Samples of honey, mustard oil, pineapple jam, gram flour and iodised salt were sent for testing and the test results showed that Patanjali was not the manufacturer of the products, the Court Order stated.
“It was found that the sampled Patanjali products were being manufactured at other factories and not Patanjali’s production units, but they were being marketed by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd as exclusive Patanjali products. This was Patanjali’s attempt to mislead buyers,” Mr. Pandey said.
The Court Order stated that the products were “in contravention of Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation 2011”.
