'Finally woken up': Know top 10 SC observations in Ramdev’s Patanjali case

Court observations and past cases: The latest whip on Yoga guru Ramdev has come from the Uttarakhand government’s suspension of 14 products from Patanjali Divya Pharmacy for its violation of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act and the Drugs and Cosmetic Act.
Is the Uttarakhand drug regulator’s action too little, too late? That is what the Supreme Court feels. The apex court has pulled with the Uttarakhand Licensing Authority based in Patanjali’s home turf, for what the court quipped saying “You have finally woken up”. The SC bench is clearly irked with the drug authority’s delay in action against Patanjali. Here are the top ten regulatory actions which Patanjali has faced since its launch of medicines for curing COVID-19.

SC’s key observations 

The most hard-hitting observations of the Supreme Court made in the last two months during hearings in the case on claims of misleading advertisements have made headlines. 
Last month the court had said: “There is nothing such as permanent relief, there is either permanent cure or death,”

Earlier, the two-bench judge had told Patanjali: “You have taken the country for a ride. I am raising my hands in this case; enough of this non-compliance of our orders,” “We had our hands tied earlier but not now,” the SC bench had added. 
In 2015, the country’s premier defence research organisation DRDO tied up with Patanjali to market supplements, food products earlier. Besides, lakhs of people use Patanjali products hoping to cure chronic illnesses. Patanjali is a chronic violator. While people in favour of Patanjali says the Supreme Court has gone overboard but the apex court’s intervention has certainly proved to be a deterrent.  

Repeated violator  

It was the Ayush Ministry that probed Yoga guru Ramdev’s COVID-19 cure first in 2020.  Patanjali had come under the scanner of the Ayush ministry, which is the regulator for alternative medicine in India after it unveiled an Ayurvedic medicine- Coronil and Swasari claiming favourable results to cure Covid. 
Among other cases stacked against Patanjali  includes the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) case, which had in 2019 objected to Patanjali products’ medicinal claims.  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at Wardha in Maharashtra filed a misleading advertising case against four  Patanjali brands. The latest of the cases is the Supreme Court taking Patanjali to task for publishing advertisements attacking allopathic medicines.
It is equally important to understand the ambit of alternative medicine regulators in India.  The Union Ministry of Ayush was formed in 2014 to revive ancient medicines. The department of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush) was set up in November 2003 to regulate alternative medicines.