INTRODUCTION
The Apex Court of India on 10th April 2024, lashed out at the Govt. Of Uttarakhand for not taking proper measures to question the misleading advertisements made and published by Patanjali Ayurved, a company founded by the yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his partner Balkrishna. This wrath was an outcome of the vague advertisements made by the company, particularly for the product ‘Coronil Kit’ which was sold and marketed as an herbal remedy and a ‘cure’ for the Coronavirus during the year 2021. Many critics argued that Patanjali was not the only company producing misleading or false advertisements, but many disregarded the fact that the product in question was claiming to cure a virus that at the time was not even considered to be cured by medical associations all around the world.
Recently, in November 2023, Justice Amanullah of the Supreme Court even alerted the yog guru to not proceed with false advertisements and even warned to impose a fine of Rs. 1 crore on every product having been falsely advertised. However, even after repeated warnings, the apex court imposed a temporary ban on Patanjali from advertising its products under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.[1]
THE ORIGIN STORY OF PATANJALI AYURVED
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. Initially began as a small pharmacy in the city of Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Founded by Swami Ramdev (born as Ramkrishna Yadav) and his co-founder and partner Acharya Balkrishna (born as Balkrishna Subedi) in 2006, the main aim of the company was to promote Ayurveda, the traditional medicine system of India. The company started by producing ayurvedic medicines but later expanded its product line- by introducing everyday products like hair oil, cooking oil, instant noodles, soaps, etc. With time, Patanjali Ayurveda rapidly grew and established itself as one of the major enterprises in the consumer market selling goods at a comparatively cheaper price to compete with foreign multinational enterprises.[2]
“In India, food, cosmetics and medicines are mostly made and sold by foreign multinational companies that take the country’s money abroad,”[3] Baba Ramdev says.
With the tagline ‘Made In Bharat’, Baba Ramdev entered the commercial market, along with the ayurvedic medicines, to provide an Indian (Swadeshi) experience to the consumers at a lower price giving a tough competition to the other players in the game.
By July 2023, the company’s valuation peaked at a total value of Rs. 48,245 Crores and the company’s total revenue as of FY2023 was Rs. 45,000 Crores.[4]
When we closely analyze how Baba Ramdev was able to dominate the consumer markets throughout the country, there exist certain reasons for the same. These are:
- Trust building factor: – By continuously appearing on different TV channels and re-introducing the importance of yoga, Baba Ramdev developed a community that had a deep trust in the actions of Baba Ramdev.
- Low-Cost marketing of the products: – The products sold by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. Were comparatively cheaper than its competitors. By research, it was found that Patanjali sold its products 15 to 30% cheaper than its contenders[5]. This was possible because Patanjali directly purchased its raw material from the farmers, without any intermediatory factor. By this strategy, Baba Ramdev was able to sell products at a cheaper rate which benefited the people in general.
- Use of ‘BHARTIYA’ branding: – Constant use of the terms ‘Swadeshi’, ‘Bhartiya’, and ‘Ayurvedic’ with the products created a sense of trust in the minds of the people. Moreover, it also made a patriotic impact among the consumers as the products were labelled as ‘Made in Bharat’.
THE CORONIL CONTROVERSY
The main reason for the Supreme Court’s concern regarding the advertisements of Patanjali started with the product ‘Coronil’. On 23rd June 2020, Patanjali launched the Coronil Kit as a new ayurvedic remedy with a claim to cure the Coronavirus. The product was declared to be clinically tested and verified. Within four months of the launch, 25 lakh units of the product were sold and sales worth Rs. 250 Crores were recorded. Initially, the company claimed that the product helped in completely curing the patient within a few days but later when the Ministry Of AYUSH sought to ban the product advertised and sold as a ‘cure’, the company backtracked and refused to accept the initial claims and later asserted the product to be a mere immunity booster. The Ministry strongly criticized the actions of the company and allowed only to sell the product as an immunity booster and not as a cure for COVID-19.[6]
Moreover, it was even asserted that the coronil kit was a recognized medicine for COVID-19 by WHO (World Health Organisation). But it was later clarified by WHO through a Twitter post that the claims were completely false and no such recognition was given to any medicine[7]. Even though the ministry had advised Patanjali to stop advertising coronil, unknowingly the product was highly advertised by the media houses throughout the country. News channels did not bother to inquire about anything and publicized the product which was even prohibited by the central ministry.
According to Baba Ramdev, the clinical trial of coronil kit was done at the NIMS University of Jaipur with a sample size of just 100 patients. But later with the unfolding of the controversies, The NIMS University head clarified that the hospital had not participated in any clinical studies for the contentious ayurvedic medication, further distancing the university from any association with the company.
NIMS Chairman, Dr B.S. Tomar said, “There was no clinical trial in our hospital of the drug. There was no serious case in the patients we admitted. Only 100 asymptomatic patients were given a few Ayurvedic medicines under the sponsorship of Patanjali. But we did not prepare any medicine nor did we know its name.”[8]
Another problem faced was that the product was tested first time on 29th May and the kit was launched within a month of the first testing on 23rd June. This means that the period between the testing and research and the launch of the product was not sufficient for satisfactory results of the trials and the kit was launched in haste. Alongside this, still, there were states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra that decided to ban the sales of coronil kits among consumers as the kit was vague and not properly tested and tried[9]. On the other hand, there were states like Haryana wherein the state government announced free distribution of one lakh coronil kits to covid patients.
As a consequence of all these claims by different ministries and departments, Baba Ramdev in one of his videos made derogatory remarks towards the Indian Medical Association targeting Allopathy and declaring it as a “stupid science”. The association was infuriated by the remarks passed by Baba Ramdev and asked the Union Health Ministry to take action against such claims[10].
In 2022, a petition was filed by IMA (Indian Medical Association) and the General Secretary Of IMA Jayesh Lele against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, Acharya Balkrishna, and the central government for false and misleading advertisements published by Patanjali targeting allopathic practices. The Supreme Court warned to charge a fine of Rs. 1 Crore on Patanjali’s falsely advertised product[11].
In February 2024, the Supreme Court even demanded an apology from the CEO of Patanjali Balkrishna but the notice of the Apex Court was completely ignored by the man. As a result on 9th April 2024, the Supreme Court asked for an ‘unconditional apology’ from both the founders Acharya Balkrishna and Baba Ramdev. Even the state government of Uttarakhand was scolded for ignorance of the actions of the company[12].
CONCLUSION
Just because of the mere lust for power and money, a man as loved in the country as Baba Ramdev broke the trust of the majority of Indians. A man who re-introduced the concept of yoga in the country and taught yoga to the youth became so unapologetic towards a product that was openly sold as a remedy for a virus that destroyed the world at one point in time. This incident further proves the phrase that “with great power comes great responsibility”.
Author(s) Name: Kunwar Langer (The Law School, University Of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir)
Reference(s):
[1] “‘Humbug’: SC slams Patanjali over ‘perfunctory’ apology for misleading ads” The Print (New Delhi, 2 April 2024) <https://theprint.in/judiciary/humbug-sc-slams-patanjali-over-perfunctory-apology-for-misleading-ads/2024299/> accessed 16 April 2024
[2]Kaushik Deka, The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon: From Moksha to Market (Published 2017)
[3]Yogita Limaye, ‘Yoga guru turned company boss’ (BBC News, 21 December 2015) <https://www.bbc.com/news/business-35097567#:~:text=Baba%20Ramdev%20and%20his%20aide,huge%2C%20which%20they%20take%20overseas. > accessed 16 April 2024
[4]Arnab Dutta, ‘Rs 1 lakh crore revenue in 5 years: Ramdev sets ambitious target for Patanjali’ Business Today (16 June 2023) <https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/rs-1-lakh-crore-revenue-in-5-years-ramdev-sets-ambitious-target-for-patanjali-385911-2023-06-16> accessed 17 April 2024
[5]Khushleen Kaur and Dr. Amar Inder Singh, ‘A case study of “Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.” in context to “Swadeshi”’ (2018) 3 (2) IJMRD <https://www.allsubjectjournal.com/assets/archives/2018/vol5issue10/5-10-14-364.pdf> accessed 16 April 2024
[6]Sanjay Sharma, ‘Patanjali sold 25 lakh Coronil kits worth Rs 250 crore in 4 months’ India Today (New Delhi, 2 November 2020) <https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/patanjali-sold-25-lakh-coronil-kits-worth-rs-250-crore-in-4-months-1737229-2020-11-02> accessed on 17 April 2024
[7]Abhilash Mallick, ‘Indian News Outlets Falsely Claim ‘Coronil Got WHO Recognition’’ The Quint (23 February 2021) <https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/indian-news-outlets-falsely-claim-coronil-got-who-recognition#read-more> accessed 17 April 2024
[8]Rajesh Asnani, ‘Jaipur’s NIMS makes U-turn on ‘Coronil’ collab with Baba Ramdev, says no clinical trials conducted’ The New Indian Express (Jaipur, 27 June 2020) <https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/Jun/27/jaipurs-nims-makes-u-turn-on-coronil-collab-with-baba-ramdev-says-no-clinical-trials-conducted-2161932.html> accessed 17 April 2024
[9]Explained Desk, ‘The row over Patanjali’s Coronil, and why Maharashtra wants to ban it’ The Indian Express (New Delhi, 2 March 2021) <https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-maharashtra-wants-to-ban-coronil-for-now-and-what-is-its-who-certification-7201589/> accessed 17 April 2024
[10]Ishita Mishra, ‘Indian Medical Association seeks action against Ramdev’s ‘allopathy is stupid science’ remark’ The Times Of India (Dehradun, 23 May 2021) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/indian-medical-association-seeks-action-against-ramdevs-allopathy-is-stupid-science-remark/articleshow/82874403.cms> accessed 17 April 2024
[11]Parijata Bhardwaj, ‘Legally Speaking | The Patanjali proceedings: A brief overview of the case’ Hindustan Times (3 April 2024) <https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/legally-speaking-the-patanjali-proceedings-a-brief-overview-of-the-case-101712163749535.html> accessed 16 April 2024
[12]Ibid
