In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the Ministry of AYUSH criticized Patanjali for allegedly weakening the effectiveness of allopathic medications. The statement from the government preceded Patanjali’s contempt court case. In their affidavit, the government promoted an integrated healthcare system, stressing that people may choose to use allopathic or Ayush medications.
According to the affidavit, Patanjali was advised not to promote Coronil as a viral treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic until the drug had undergone a proper investigation by the AYUSH Ministry. Patanjali was reminded of the particular conditions set down by the government for carrying out clinical studies.
The AYUSH Ministry also emphasized the need of respecting one another’s medical systems and forbade disparaging any one of them. Given the gravity of the situation, it has aggressively addressed the problem.
The Government of India’s current policy promotes an integrated healthcare paradigm that combines allopathy and Ayush systems. The affidavit said that a person or healthcare seeker may choose to use the Ayush system or allopathic treatment.
The health ministry received many complaints about Coronil, which led to the notification being issued to Patanjali. The corporation was asked to refrain from publicizing claims about Coronil’s effectiveness against COVID-19 until the ministry had had a chance to fully investigate the situation.
The government promotes the use of each healthcare system’s advantages to improve the general health of its people in a particular way. In the public interest and out of mutual respect, it is therefore most respectfully submitted that disparaging a medical system by its practitioners—who may not fully comprehend other medical systems—be discouraged. This was stated further in the affidavit.
Meanwhile, after being reprimanded by the highest court for violating the promise made to them in the deceptive advertising case, Ramdev and his firm, Patanjali Ayurved, presented managing director Acharya Balkrishna with an unqualified apology.
The night before the important hearing, Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna submitted an affidavit in which they offered an unconditional apology for the deceptive ads, for publishing them in spite of the restraining order that was put in place on November 21, 2023, and for holding a press conference the following day during which the Supreme Court’s decision was criticized.