Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna, and Divya Pharmacy, the marketing arm of Patanjali Ayurved, have been issued a bailable arrest warrant by the Judicial First Class Magistrate II in Palakkad, Kerala. The warrant was issued after they failed to appear in court on January 16.
The case against Patanjali, filed in October 2024, accuses the company of making unverified claims about its healthcare products. The advertisements allegedly promised cures for conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, violating the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. Despite receiving court summons, the accused did not appear for the January hearing, leading to the issuance of a bailable arrest warrant. The case will be heard again on February 1.
The advertisements in question falsely claimed that Patanjali products could cure diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and Covid-19. This is not the first such incident. Media reports indicate that Baba Ramdev and his team are facing similar cases in Kozhikode and Haridwar, Uttarakhand. In Kerala alone, there are at least 10 pending cases, including four in Kozhikode, three in Palakkad, two in Ernakulam, and one in Thiruvananthapuram.