Uttarakhand govt takes no action against Patanjali in 2 years over misleading ads
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New Delhi: Over the past two years, the Uttarakhand authorities have only given letters and notices to yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved for repeated violations of an Act that deals with deceptive advertisements of Ayush goods. No more action has been taken.
The warning came only after the Supreme Court, which on February 27 said that the "entire country was taken for a ride" and ordered Ramdev and managing director Acharya Balkrishna to appear in person before the court, the New Indian Express reported.
This information was disclosed in an affidavit that the Union Ayush Ministry submitted to the Supreme Court on March 19. Despite multiple Supreme Court rulings, RTIs, and even instructions from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the affidavit unequivocally demonstrated that no action was taken.
“The ministry’s response to the apex court clearly shows that the Uttarakhand authorities failed to prosecute Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved in the last two years,” said RTI activist Dr K V Babu who has been actively investigating the issue and filing multiple RTIs with the state and central government to take action against Ramdev's Patanjali for breaking the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act of 1954.
He claimed that Balkrishna only offered the Supreme Court an unqualified apology and vowed to "ensure that such ads are not issued in the future" on March 21 in response to the court's severe warning.
“This situation would not have happened had both the Centre and the state taken a firm stand and prosecuted Patanjali Ayurved in these two years.”
The Ministry attached a letter dated March 12th to the affidavit on the action taken report regarding the deceptive advertisement of an Ayush product made by Divya Pharmacy. The letter stated that the ministry had instructed the Uttarakhand Licencing Authority, Ayurveda and Unani Services, to notify them of the action taken against the company.