Patanjali Soan Papdi Fails Quality Test; Company Manager, 2 Others Get 6 Months Jail

Patanjali continues to be in the news for wrong reasons as one of its products has failed the quality test, following which the company's official and two others were fined and sentenced to six months in jail.

Haldwani (Uttarakhand): Troubles are chasing Yoga Guru Ramdev Baba as one of the products of his company Patanjali Ayurvedic failed the mandatory quality test, after which a court sentenced the accused, including the company official, the distributer and the shopkeeper to six months in jail.

Patanjali Navratna Elaichi Soan Papdifailed the quality test after the District Food Safety Officer of Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand collected the samples from a shop in Berinag Market back in 2019, following the concerns raised about the product.

On Saturday (May 18), the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Pithoragarh imposed a fine along with six months' imprisonment on Abhishek Kumar, the assistant general manager and distributor of Patanjali Ayurveda Limited, shopkeeper Leeladhar Pathak, and Ajay Joshi, Assistant Manager of Kanha Ji Distributor Private Limited.

Besides imprisonment, fine was also imposed on all three. The accused have been sentenced under relevant sections of the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Giving more details about the case, Pithoragarh Food Safety Officer Rajesh Sharma said that on September 17, 2019, samples of Patanjali Navratna Cardamom Soan Papdiwere taken from Leeladhar Pathak's shop located in Berinag Market. The sample was sent to Udham Singh Nagar Government Laboratory where the product was found unsafe for consumption after it was tested in 2020.

The sample was re-tested in the Central Lab located in Ghaziabad, where again the product was found unsafe for consumption. Following it, a case was registered against Leeladhar Pathak, distributor Ajay Joshi and Patanjali's Abhishek Kumar.

While hearing the case on Saturday, the court of Chief New Magistrate Pithoragarh Sanjay Singh sentenced the three accused to 6 months imprisonment under Section 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. Leeladhar Pathak and Ajay Joshi were fined Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. Abhishek Kumar was fined Rs 25,000. Assistant Prosecution Officer Ritesh Verma appeared on behalf of the complainant in the case.

Patanjali is already embroiled in the misleading advertisement case in which the Supreme Court has slammed the company, and reserved its order on contempt notices issued to Baba Ramdev and others in the case.

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