Patanjali Ayurved Misleading Labels Under Legal Scrutiny

Patanjali Ayurved Misleading Labels and Legal Proceedings

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that its authorities will not carry out, until further orders, the raids and confiscation drives against Ayurvedic products over alleged misleading indication labels of Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali Ayurved Limited claiming cure for cancer, diabetes, and other ailments. The assurance came after the Court asked the Central government to state its position on whether and how indication-based labelling of Ayurvedic products should be regulated across the country.

The state government had recently seized alleged misbranded medicines manufactured by Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali Ayurvedic Limited. They challenged the seizures conducted across the state and argued that the issue required an all-India policy stand instead of state-level action, after which the HC sought the Centre's response within two weeks.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam A Ankhad was hearing a batch of pleas by Divya Pharmacy and Patanjali Ayurved Limited challenging action initiated by the state's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act related to labels on Ayurvedic products.

Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, representing the petitioners, claimed that indication labelling has been an industry-wide practice in Ayurveda; therefore, it cannot be construed as misleading and should not be treated as a Patanjali-specific violation.