New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that consumers often stay in the dark, as they are unable to access information regarding misleading advertisements while suggesting that the Ministry of Ayush must set up a dashboard, providing details regarding complaints filed on misleading advertisements. The apex court said the dashboard should also show progress made on these complaints.
A bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta observed that in the absence of proper information in connection with the action taken on the complaints received, the consumers' are left in the dark. The bench said that the Ministry of Ayush must set up a dashboard citing complaints received, then the data would come in the public domain, which could address the issue of prosecution under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The top court made these observations while hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd against Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.
The bench noted that the number of complaints made by the consumers have gone down to around 130 from 2500. It observed that the reason appears that the grievance redressal mechanism for dealing with such complaints has not been properly publicised. The apex court asked the ministry concerned to look into this issue and file an affidavit within two weeks.
Previously, the apex court had expressed its concerns regarding misleading advertisements, which were contrary to the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the rules, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
The IMA’s counsel made submission regarding the cancellation of the suspension order in connection with the manufacturing licences of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy.
On April 15, the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) suspended manufacturing licences of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy. The SLA informed the apex court that the suspension order has been cancelled in view of a report by a high-level committee, which examined the grievances of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. On July 1, the suspension order was cancelled.
The bench asked the Uttarakhand counsel, "What is the status today?" The counsel replied that after the July 1 order, a fresh notice was issued to Patanjali and the SLA received a reply from Patanjali on July 19, and they have sought legal opinion in the matter. The bench told the state's counsel to pass an order pursuant to the show cause notice before the next date of hearing and communicate the same to Patanjali.
