Not concerned just about Patanjali, but about all FMCG firms deceiving customers, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was concerned about fast-moving consumer goods companies deceiving customers and causing health risks, Live Law reported.

The court made the observation while hearing contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved for its misleading advertisements.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said it was not concerned about Patanjali alone, but about “all those FMCGs and all those companies who are taking their consumers and clients up the garden path and showing them some very rosy pictures of what their product can do for them”.

The bench said that people’s health suffers because of such products, even though they pay large sums of money for them. “This is absolutely unacceptable,” the court said.

Senior Advocate Balbir Singh, representing yoga guru and Patanjali co-founder Ramdev, said that the opportunity could be taken to create guidelines for the industry in general.

The Indian Medical Association, which filed the petition against Patanjali, accusing the company of carrying out a “smear campaign” against modern medicine and the Covid-19 vaccination drive. On November 21, Patanjali gave an undertaking to the court saying it would not make any “casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine”.

However, on December 4, the company again issued an allegedly misleading advertisement, after which the court rebuked Ramdev and...

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