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The Supreme Court said that FMCGs are also giving misleading advertisements, which are misleading the public. The health of children, school going children and the elderly is being affected. The court has sought a response from the Central Government on the letter written to the states in August 2023 for not taking action under Rule 170 of the Drugs and Medicines Act. At the same time, when Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna told the court that they had tendered an unconditional public apology in the newspapers, the court asked whether the size of your apology was as big as your advertisement.
Public interest issue related to people's health
The court said that the apology letter should be printed big and visible. These observations and orders were given by the bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah while hearing the petition filed by IMA in the Patanjali misleading advertisement case. The court also clarified on Tuesday that it is not targeting any particular company or person. The bench said that this is an issue of public interest related to public health. This is an issue of wide interest to consumers. People should know where they are going. How and why they can be misled. How are officials working to stop this?
Court asked sharp questions to IMA
During the hearing, lawyer PS Patwalia, who was appearing on behalf of IMA in the court, was told that while pointing a finger at someone, keep in mind that four fingers should be towards you. You must have received many complaints about unethical behavior of IMA members, what action was taken against them. The bench said that we can target you also. Patwalia said he would look into it. On the suggestion of Patwalia, the court has also made the National Medical Commission (NMC) a party in the case.
Also take a look at MMCG
The bench said that the implementation of the Drug and Magic Remedies Act needs to be carefully considered. The issue is not limited to the proposed challengers before the Supreme Court (Baba Ramdev, Balkrishna and Patanjali), but extends to all Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, who sometimes issue misleading advertisements to the public. Especially infants, children and elderly people are influenced by these misleading advertisements and take medicines. The public cannot be deceived.
It is important to beware of misleading advertisements
The court asked the central government and state licensing authorities to proactively deal with misleading advertisements. The bench said that in view of the misleading advertisements in print and electronic media, it becomes necessary to make the Ministry of Consumer Welfare, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Information and Technology as parties in this matter which are controlling. Violation of Drug and Magic Remedies Act, Drug and Cosmetic Act and Consumer Protection Act.
This issue will be heard in the court on May 7.
The court also made the licensing authorities of all the states and union territories as parties. The court ordered the three central ministries to file affidavits detailing the action taken since 2018 to prevent misuse of rules and regulations. This issue will be heard in the court on May 7.
Is the apology as big as the advertisement?
As soon as the hearing started on Tuesday. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Ramdev and Patanjali Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna, said they have publicly and unconditionally apologized for their mistake to 67 newspapers across the country. When the court said it was not on record, Rohatgi said it was published only on Monday. The court said why did you wait for a week. After this the court raised questions on the size of the apology.
The court said that the apology letter should be printed in capital letters.
The court asked whether the size of the apology was advertised. Rohatgi said no, its price is lakhs of rupees. The court said that the apology letter should be printed in capital letters. After this, the court adjourned the hearing till April 30, giving time to submit the apology on record. The court also said that the newspaper clipping of the apology should be filed in the court and not a large size photocopy.
The court said it would like to see the actual size. Justice Amanullah of the bench said that it is ironic that an anchor on a channel, while reading the news, tells what the Supreme Court has said and in the same frame, an advertisement is being run on the sidelines. However, he did not reveal the name of the channel.