Stopped Sale Of 14 Products: Patanjali Tells SC

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it has stopped the sale of the 14 products whose manufacturing licences were suspended by the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority in April.

The company told a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta that it has issued instructions to 5,606 franchise stores to withdraw these products. It said media platforms have also been instructed to withdraw advertisements of these 14 products in any form.

The bench directed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd to file an affidavit within two weeks stating whether the request made to social media intermediaries for the removal of advertisements has been acceded to and whether advertisements of these 14 products have been withdrawn.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on July 30. The top court is hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Patanjali against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.

The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority had earlier told the apex court that manufacturing licences of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy have been "suspended with immediate effect". The apex court had on May 14 reserved its order on the contempt notice issued to yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd in the misleading advertisements case.