Kerala HC stays criminal proceedings against Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna in prohibited advertisement case

The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted a three-month stay in the criminal proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved’s promoters, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, and Divya Pharmacy – an affiliate of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd co-founded by them – in a prohibited advertisement case.

According to a Bar and Bench report, Justice VG Arun stayed the proceedings pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court II in Palakkad.  

Newslaundry had earlier reported that Ramdev deceptively sold Coronil as cure for Covid during the pandemic. Read here. The self-styled yoga guru, who has established a gigantic retail empire, has been riding on the shoulders of Big Media. Read about it here. 

A criminal complaint was filed by the Palakkad drug inspector in October 2024 over the alleged publication of misleading medical advertisements. The drug inspector alleged that Patanjali carried an advertisement in Mathrubhumi newspaper on September 30, 2023 for their product, called ‘Mukta Vati Extra Power’, that allegedly fell within the definition of ‘prohibited advertisement’ under the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.

Patanjali, Ramdev and Balkrishna then approached the high court with a plea to quash the proceedings based on the argument of violation of limitation period.

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