The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accept a second round of apologies from self-styled yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Patanjali Ayurved Limited, and its managing director Acharya Balkrishna in a contempt case, flagging concern about Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies playing with the health of the gullible public while government fails to crack the whip.
“The victim is always the public. We are concerned with all those FMCG companies who are taking their consumers and clients up and down the garden path, showing them very rosy pictures about what their products can do for them. People who pay good money for these products finally end up suffering at the cost of their health… That is absolutely unacceptable,” Justice Hima Kohli observed.
The Bench, also comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, said the objectionable and misleading advertisements by Patanjali Ayurved to cure everything from diabetes and obesity to liver dysfunction, and even COVID-19 during the months of the pandemic, were “deliberate and wilful violations” of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act of 1954 and its Rules.
The apex court had initiated contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved and Balkrishna on February 27 for violating an undertaking given to it in November 2023 that they would refrain from advertising “cures” in violation of the 1954 Act. On November 21, the apex court had directed the company to not make any “casual statements” to the print or electronic media about the efficacy of their medicinal products or indulge in any disparaging statements about other disciplines of medicine, including allopathy. However, the very next day, Ramdev had held a press conference.
“We are thinking, why we should not treat your apology with the same disdain in which you treated the undertaking given to this court?” Justice Kohli addressed senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the proposed contemnors.
Justice Amanullah remarked the apology came from the trio only after “the writing was plain on the wall”.
Justice Kohli said their conduct, when faced with contempt action, changed from hubris to abject surrender when they found themselves cornered. In its order, the court recorded that the contemnors, Ramdev and Balkrishna, had tried to “wriggle out” of personally appearing in the apex court.
Justice Amanullah said it was conduct like this that made a mockery of the Supreme Court, with the public claiming that judges were sitting in an ivory tower.
The court made it clear that it would direct action against every person or authority who had broken the law, without mercy.
“Why should we show mercy when the public is cheated by medicines touted as a cure?” Justice Kohli asked. The court listed the contempt case for April 16.
The hearing saw the court turn its ire on the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority for choosing to turn a blind eye to the misleading advertisments. “You twiddled your thumbs… Why should we not come down like a ton of bricks on your officers? They have been filibustering… You were in deep slumber from 2018, when the first complaint came about their products, to 2024,” Justice Kohli told a senior official from the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority who was present in the courtroom.
The official said he would file an First Information Report (FIR) now. Justice Amanullah, in a sarcastic tone, said he need not bother after so many years.
“Now you have woken up to a statute which is the law of the land?” Justice Kohli asked the State government.
The court said the assurances of the State government to move against Patanjali under the 1954 Act, and the apology of the three proposed contemnors were “not worth the paper they were written on”.
The court directed the State Licensing Authority officers-in-charge, the present one and his predecessor, to file detailed affidavits on why action had not been taken against Patanjali Ayurved under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act.
It further directed all the officers who had served as District Ayurvedic and Unani Officers, Haridwar, from the period between 2018 to 2024, to file affidavits explaining their inaction against Patanjali Ayurved under the law. The court has listed this part of the case on April 23.
In the previous hearing on April 2, the court had questioned the government for “shutting its eyes” while Patanjali Ayurved “tom-tommed” its wares as panacea during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its affidavit, the Centre responded that the Interdisciplinary Technical Review Committee for COVID-19 had raised “ethical concerns”, and recommended in its report in December 2020 that Patanjali Ayurved’s ‘Coronil’ “may be used as a supporting measure for COVID-19 without claiming cure”.
BJP repeatedly tried to impose its will on people of Tamil Nadu: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh
The Congress on April 10 accused the BJP of repeatedly trying to impose its will on the people of Tamil Nadu and flagged issues such as “devastating impacts” of NEET in the State and insufficient devolution of taxes from the Centre.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Coimbatore and posed questions to him on key issues affecting the State.
“Today, PM Modi will be in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. In a State which has a long history of advocating for cooperative federalism, the BJP has repeatedly tried to impose its will on the people,” Ramesh said.
“The Modi Sarkar’s track record in TN begs the question — does PM Modi want to represent the people, or does he want to rule over them?” Ramesh said the NEET exam was introduced by the BJP government in 2017, and it faced widespread public backlash due to fears that it would unfairly disadvantage students from poor and the marginalised communities.
“Very soon, these fears were confirmed. According to 2019 data, only 2% of students who qualified for the exam did so without enrolling in private coaching. Since coaching centres charge between 2.5 lakh to five lakh per student, it is nearly impossible for marginalised students to qualify for the exam,” he said.
Sure enough, the Congress leader said, data shows that the number of Tamil-medium government school students securing seats in medical courses reduced drastically after NEET was introduced — from 600 in 2016 (before NEET) to just 5 in 2017, 7 in 2018 and 0 in 2019.
“To address this injustice, the TN Assembly has passed two NEET Bills since 2017 that exempt students from taking the exam, but neither bill was given assent by the President. The most tragic element of this narrative is that Tamil Nadu has experienced several student suicides prior to the exam every year since its inception,” Ramesh said.
All of Tamil Nadu has borne witness to the devastating impacts of NEET, he said and asked why the Prime Minister has not even acknowledged the damage that his policies have caused.
“Last week, the State of Tamil Nadu was compelled to move the Supreme Court as the Union government has been withholding much-needed disaster relief funds. Tamil Nadu has been dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Michuang, which rocked the State in December 2023, causing unprecedented flooding and significant damage,” he said.
“The State government has already spent ₹3,406 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund and other State funds but it has not been enough to cover the extensive damage caused by the cyclone,” Ramesh said.
In such situations, States can seek additional aid from the National Disaster Relief Fund, which was established for the express purpose of assisting when calamities are “beyond the coping capacity of the State government”, he said.
“The Tamil Nadu government had applied to this fund as early as December 19 last year and then again on January 10 for the release of ₹18,214 crore of aid,” he said.
“Yet, more than four months later, the Centre has not taken a final decision. Needless to say, this delay in the release of funds has severe implications for the people of Tamil Nadu,” Ramesh said.
“What “vendetta” does the PM have against the Tamil people to be so indifferent to their needs,” he asked.
“In 2008, when PM Modi was still Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had kicked up a storm with his remarks on fiscal injustice and insufficient devolution of taxes from the Centre. However, now that the BJP is in power, the shoe is on the other foot,” he alleged.
“In January, the Tamil Nadu Finance Minister pointed out that the State received only 29 paise for every Rupee it gave to the Centre,” he said.
Ramesh said that even though Tamil Nadu accounts for 6.124% of India’s population, its share of Central taxes has decreased from 5.305% under the 12th Finance Commission to 4.079% under the 15th Finance Commission.
“This reduction in Tamil Nadu’s share comes amidst the Modi Sarkar’s introduction of a cess raj, evolved specifically to avoid sharing revenues with States,” he said.
“Is the PM’s change of heart on this issue entirely attributable to his desire for centralising power?” Ramesh said and asked PM Modi to break his silence on these issues.
Inquiry launched into Kejriwal sending messages to AAP MLAs from jail: Sanjay Singh
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh on April 10 claimed that an inquiry has been launched into Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sending messages to his MLAs through his lawyers from Tihar jail.
After Kejriwal sent a message to AAP MLAs asking them to visit their constituencies and solve people’s problems, a “threat was issued” that his meetings with his lawyers and family members would be stopped, Singh claimed at a press conference without naming anyone.
The AAP Rajya Sabha MP alleged that he and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann wanted to meet Kejriwal in jail but the meeting was cancelled by the prison authorities, even though a token number had been issued for it.
Kejriwal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam. He is in judicial custody till April 15 and is currently lodged in Tihar jail. Since his arrest on March 21, he has sent messages to his party leaders and directions to Delhi ministers through his wife and lawyers.
Singh hit out at the Modi government and the ruling BJP, saying that they want to keep Kejriwal in Tihar under “Hitlarshahi” to break him emotionally. “Kejriwal will neither break nor bow down to any torture,” he said, adding that Delhi’s 2 crore people will respond to this in the Lok Sabha elections.
Eight-nine policemen stay around Kejriwal during his meetings with his lawyers in jail. This is against rules as inmates are allowed to speak to their lawyers privately, Singh said.
The case against Kejriwal pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped.
JNU ranked as India’s top university, IIM-Ahmedabad among world’s top 25 for management studies: QS Rankings
Jawaharlal Nehru University is the highest-ranked university in India in the coveted rankings announced by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the London-based higher education analytics firm. The university is ranked at 20th position globally for development studies.
The Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences in Chennai is at 24th position globally for dentistry studies.
Car carrying Maharashtra Congress chief Patole hit by truck, Congress alleges plot on his life
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole had a narrow escape after a truck rammed into his car in the State’s Bhandara district late on Tuesday, following which the Congress alleged that it was a deliberate attempt on Mr. Patole’s life.
The accident occurred near Kardha village when Patole was returning from a poll campaign and no one was injured. In a video statement, the State Congress chief claimed that a truck had deliberately tried to hit his car. However, in another statement later, he said there was no cause for worry as the truck had brushed the side of his car.
Congress national spokesperson Atul Londhe targeted the ruling BJP over the accident while BJP leaders laughed off Londhe’s suggestion as ludicrous.
In a post on X, Londhe said: “Does BJP want to win the election by eliminating the Opposition leaders? Congress State president Nana Patole was on a campaign tour of Bhandara district on Tuesday night when a truck hit his car and tried to crush it near Kardha village. This is a very serious incident and leads one to doubt whether this was a plot against his life.”
Londhe said that Patole escaped injury as the ‘blessings of the public’ were with him.
He further said that security for senior Maharashtra Congressmen leaders such as former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat had already been reduced, as was that of Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar who frequently toured Naxal-hit areas.
Rubbishing the Congress spokesperson’s allegations, BJP leader Atul Bhatkalkar called Londhe’s accusations “baseless.”
Poll roundup
- BJP leaders Varun Gandhi and his mother Maneka Gandhi did not attend the rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, despite the two holding the Lok Sabha seat interchangeably since 1996. The BJP denied ticket to sitting Lok Sabha member from the seat Varun Gandhi and fielded Jitin Prasad, who is the Public Works Minister in the U.P. government. Gandhi has been vocal against his own government several times on issues such as inflation, unemployment, and farmers’ woes. On March 28, Gandhi penned an emotional note to voters in Pilibhit, emphasising his old bonds with them, but giving no hint as to his political future.
- Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has sent a legal notice to Shashi Tharoor, accusing the Congress MP of making defamatory statements against him on a TV channel recently. Chandrasekhar, who is facing off against Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency for the April 26 polls, has alleged that the Congress leader disseminated “patently false information” regarding bribing of key voters and influential figures such as parish priests, among others, by the BJP candidate. The statements by Tharoor were made with an intent to harm Chandrasekhar’s reputation and image, and his remarks also disrespected the entire Christian community of Thiruvananthapuram and its leaders, as he had accused them of engaging in cash-for-votes activities, the BJP leader charged.
In Brief
TMC leaders end protest in Delhi; AAP extends support
Raising slogans against the BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders ended their 24-hour protest at the Mandir Marg police station in Delhi on Tuesday evening, a day after they were detained while staging a dharna outside the Election Commission’s (EC) office. AAP leaders, including Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and MLA Dilip Pandey, met the protesting TMC leaders, who camped overnight at the police station. The TMC leaders on Monday met with the full bench of the EC and urged the poll body to change the heads of the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency and Income Tax department, alleging that they were “acting at the behest” of the ruling BJP at the Centre. Later, the 10-member delegation of the party, including Derek O’Brien, Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale, and Sagarika Ghose, announced that they were sitting on a 24-hour dharna.
India’s Jagjit Pavadia re-elected for a third term to the International Narcotics Control Board
India has been elected to several key bodies at the United Nations, including a significant victory by its nominee Jagjit Pavadia who was re-elected for a third term to the International Narcotics Control Board after garnering the highest number of votes. Pavadia was re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) by secret ballot for the third term for five years from March 2025-2030. India was also elected by acclamation to the Commission on the Status of Women for the term 2025-2029; Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund for the term 2025-2027; Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office for Project Services for 2025-2027. It was also elected to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women for the 2025-2027 term and the Executive Board of the World Food Programme for the 2025-2027 term.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
