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By: Saumil Ahuja, 2nd year School of law, Christ University, Bengaluru
What is Defamation?
Defamation is defined under section 499 of the IPC. It is stated as under:
βWhoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter excepted, to defame that person.β In short it is an act by which false statements are communicated against a person to a third party and which lowers/ damages the reputation of that person.[1]
Why is it in news?
Recently the Apex court of India, that is the Supreme Court of India has issued a notice of contempt against Baba Ramdev and the managing director of Patanjali for violating the order of the court dealing with the misleading advertisements. Despite the previous court orders, Patanjali Ayurved had released advertisements in which it was claimed that it has made some products which can cure certain diseases because of which he has been accused of contempt of court. In addition to it, he has also attacked allopathy and accused it of spreading misconceptions because of which IMA (Indian medical association) has filed a defamatory suit of 1000 crore against Patanjali.
What is contempt of court?
Contempt of court has a statutory backing by The Contempt of Courts Act 1971. It has been defined under section 2(a), 2(b), 2(c) of the Act. Article 129 gives the supreme court the power to punish for the contempt of court while high court has power under article 215. The punishment there in such case is 6 months/ 2000 fine or both[2]. It can be either civil or criminal. Civil contempt of court happens when there is a willful disobedience of any order, judgement or other judicial processes of court. While criminal contempt is of a higher degree. It includes publication or doing of an act which can lower or hamper the authority of honβble court, interfering or prejudicing with the due proceedings of the court and it can also include interfering or obstructing the administration of justice. However, it has to be noted that if the publication is innocent and without malafide intention and there is true reporting of the judicial proceedings then it cannot be called contempt of court.
Whatβs the issue in detail?
Facts of the case are as follows:
There was a petition filed before the honβble court regarding Patanjali Ayurved being involved in misleading claims in his advertisements and showing modern system of medicines especially allopathy in negative limelight. Honβble Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah & Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra was taking up the case filed by the Indian Medical Association against the misleading advertisements showing false claims and also campaigning against covid 19 vaccination drive. It was filed as the case name βIndian Medical Association vs Union of India in august 2022. The title of the advertisement was βMISCONCEPTIONS SPREAD BY ALLOPATHY: SAVE YOURSELF AND THE COUNTRY FROM THE MISCONCEPTIONS SPREAD BY PHARMA AND MEDICAL INDUSTRY[3]β. The yoga – guru Baba Ramdev was also claimed to cure diseases like glaucoma, cataract, color vision, night blindness, cancer, kidney and lung failure and even the type 1 diabetes can be cured by shifting from insulin to his medicines. In this manner Patanjali had been accused for denigrating the modern system of science especially allopathy and also he had blamed allopathy for covid 19 deaths which lead to huge controversy.
Legal arguments involved are:
Patanjali has been accused of violating section 4 and section 7 of the βDrugs and other magical remedies act, 1954β[4] & Consumer protection Act, 2019. [5]
Section 4 of DMRA act: it states that the publication of misleading advertisements of drugs is punishable either through fines or imprisonment. It provides that the claim for the drug must be a false claim which is diluting the true nature of the drug.
Section 7 of DMRA act: this section provides for punishment whoever is involved in this act.in case of the 1st conviction the accused is charged with imprisonment which can be extended till 6 months or fine or both. In case of 2nd conviction the accused can be charged till an year or fine or both.
Section 89 of the CPA, 2019 Act: this section also imposes very stringent penalties in case of misleading advertisements. It states that if the ads is inimical to the interests of the consumers, the manufacturer/ service provider has to be made liable. For the 1st time offence the punishment is 2yrs and fine is imposed which can be imposed to the extent of 10 lacs and for every subsequent offences imprisonment can be extended till 10 years and fine to the extent of 50 lacs can be imposed.
Apart from these the MOU signed between Patanjali and Ayush and regulatory bodies in 2017 is also breached because of breaking the regulations on advertising that were imposed by this MOU.
Indian medical association also stated that the Coronil medicine which had been claimed to cure covid has been inaccurately stated as WHO certified terming this as a βblatant lieβ.
What did the court say:
The court stated that the misleading ads should be stopped immediately otherwise 1 crore penalty will be imposed on every product which is included in false claim to cure a particular disease. Firstly, Patanjali issued an apology in the newspaper but that apology was every small to the size of advertisements so it had to increase the font size of apology as ordered by the court. Despite agreeing with the order, Patanjali again started misleading ads and which made court extremely furious on Baba Ramdev and Balakrishna. Being extremely furious the court stated that the contempt of court notice will be issued against if the court order is not obeyed. To this notice no reply was filed which made court even more furious in which court ordered that Patanjaliβs MD Baba Ramdev and Balakrishna should be present in person. After this they both started requesting unconditional apology. Court completely denied the apologies and stated their apology reaches to media before to the court which implies that it can be a publicity stunt. βThey believe in publicity clearlyβ as remarked by Justice Kohli. Justice Amanullah questioned if the apology was even heartfelt. On the top of that he said βyou should suffer the consequences for violating the courtβs order. We donβt want to be generous in this caseβ. [6]The honβble supreme court also stated that βthe country is taken for a rideβ and the βgovernment is sitting with its eyes shutβ. Thus, the honβble court reprimanded even the govt. for not doing anything in this case. The court stated the Rule 170 of the DMRA Act which prohibited the advertisements of products with magical abilities had been omitted by the AYUSH ministry in august 2023 as a surprising move. The court even pulled the Ministry of Consumer affairs and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by questing them over their stance. The honβble was also furious at state licensing authorities for inaction.
Conclusion
Thus, the honβble supreme court has taken this case very seriously because of the nature of the case. Not only Patanjali but many authorities including govt, Ayush ministry has also been taken into consideration. Thus, the judgement of this case will have a profound impact on the companies which give ads stating false claims.
References
[1] Section 499, Indian Penal Code, 1860
[2] The Contempt of Courts Act 1971
[3] Astha Pasricha, Jagran Josh, March1,2024
[4] THE DRUGS AND MAGIC REMEDIES (OBJECTIONABLE ADVERTISEMENTS) ACT, 1954
