A view of premises of the Supreme Court of India.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) cautioned States and Union Territories of contempt action for hesitating to initiate proceedings against offending individuals and companies that give misleading medical advertisements.

A Bench headed by Justice A.S. Oka said the court would examine “threadbare” affidavits filed by the States and Union Territories on action taken against offenders.

The court sent a stern message after amicus curiae, senior advocate Shadan Farasat, submitted that several States were non-compliant.

“Contempt action will be initiated against those who have not complied,” Justice Oka warned.

The court’s threat of contempt proceedings came after Mr. Farasat submitted a status report on the implementation of statutes against misleading advertisements, including Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Consumer Protection Act.

Reading portions from the report, Justice Oka noted how Delhi had “difficulty identifying the offenders” while Goa had taken no action. Uttarakhand, on the other hand, could identify the offenders in 25 cases while Puducherry had not taken action despite complaints.

The court fixed the examination of the compliance reports/affidavits of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir for February 10. It would check the compliance of the governments of Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh on February 24. The status of compliance of the remaining States would be taken up on March 17.

The court, meanwhile closed the contempt proceedings against Indian Medical Association (IMA) president, R.V. Asokan, after he apologised for his comments about the court’s observations about doctors.

The case was triggered by the IMA’s petitions against yoga guru Baba Ramdev, his close associate Acharya Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd for defying a court undertaking to not publish misleading advertisements of their herbal products in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, and making derogatory statements about other systems of treatment.

In August last year, the top court had closed the contempt case against the trio after they published an unconditional apology in various regional and national dailies.