Baba Ramdev, the controversial yoga guru and businessman, is facing legal challenges in Kerala, where 26 cases have been filed against him in various courts across the state over misleading advertisements for Patanjali Ayurved’s products.
An affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court of India on February 20 by Sujith Kumar K, Drugs Controller in Kerala’s Drugs Control Department, outlines how Patanjali Ayurved Limited has violated the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 (DMR Act). The law prohibits advertising drugs with claims of magical properties. The affidavit also notes that legal action was taken against newspapers that published these advertisements, following a complaint by Dr. Babu K, a Right to Information (RTI) activist. The targeted publications include Malayalam and English dailies such as Mathrubhumi, Malayala Manorama, Kerala Kaumudi, and The Hindu.
“In all advertisements, it was claimed that the drugs mentioned there in cure and prevent certain diseases which are prohibited under Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act 1954,” the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, 31 prosecutions were launched against the manufacturer of Patanjali’s Divya products for allegedly publishing misleading advertisements in print media. Divya Pharmacy, an affiliate of Patanjali Ayurved, is also under legal scrutiny. Of these, 26 cases have been officially registered, while five others have been delayed due to “non-cooperation by the print media that published such unlawful advertisement.”
The cases are distributed across multiple courts in Kerala: Judicial First Class Magistrate courts in Kozhikode (5), Kottayam (2), Kakkanad (6), Thiruvananthapuram (5), Kattappana (1), and Palakkad (3), as well as Chief Judicial Magistrate courts in Thrissur (2) and Kollam (2). Adding to the legal pressure, on February 1, the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Palakkad issued non-bailable warrants against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurved, for failing to appear in court in a criminal case filed by the Kerala Drugs Inspector. Separately, the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kozhikode has ordered Baba Ramdev to appear in person before the court in May for another related case.
The affidavit also provides broader context, stating that between 2016 and February 20, 2025, Kerala filed 116 prosecution cases under the DMR Act against various firms, resulting in 32 convictions, with the remaining cases still pending.
