The Supreme Court of India instructed Patanjali Ayurved to demonstrate that it has halted the sale and advertisement of 14 products banned by the Uttarakhand state licensing department in April. The apex court is seeking to verify the company’s claim that it had informed all store owners, advertising outlets, and social media platforms to comply with the ban, as per a report by Hindustan Times.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, HT reporters visited Patanjali stores across four major cities—New Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, and Dehradun—and found that most of these banned products were available on the shelves for purchase. The reporters received receipts for each transaction, as per the report. In some shops, not all 14 products were in stock. But staff manning those shops assured that they could be procured within a week. Each of the 14 products was found in at least one store.
Despite an affidavit from the Uttarakhand government informing the court that the April 15 ban had been revoked on procedural grounds, with fresh show cause notices issued to Patanjali Ayurved on July 8, the Supreme Court, led by Justice Hima Kohli, passed the order to provide proof that sale and advertisements of these products have been stopped.
Patanjali’s lawyer stated that the company had not received official communication regarding the revocation and remained bound by the Supreme Court’s orders. The court ordered Patanjali Ayurved Limited to submit an affidavit on whether the request to intermediaries has been acceded to and whether the 14 Ayurvedic formulations have been withdrawn.
Patanjali’s lawyers accepted the directive to submit an affidavit confirming whether the instructions by the apex court have been followed and the 14 Ayurvedic drugs have been withdrawn.
The affidavit is to be filed within two weeks, with the next hearing scheduled for July 30. Gautam Talukdar, advocate-on-record for Patanjali in the Supreme Court, said, “The order revoking the suspension passed by the Uttarakhand government is not communicated to Patanjali so far. Patanjali came to know of it through the affidavit filed by the state in the Supreme Court. Till any official communication is received, Patanjali is bound to comply with the suspension imposed on 14 products by the Uttarakhand state licensing authority on April 15.”
HT reported its correspondents visited various Patanjali stores . At 6:15 pm at the Patanjali store in New Delhi’s New Friends Colony, the shopkeeper was unaware of the cancellation of licenses and had seven of the 14 products in stock. He told HT that these products are sold widely and restocked every two weeks. “We have been selling the medicines for over a year now. The others (other 7) are also available in our stores, but the stock has been low for a few days. The medicines will arrive next week,” he said.
Less than an hour later, at the Patanjali store in East of Kailash, the shopkeeper had nine of the 14 prohibited medicines, but was not aware about the ban. “We have customers from East of Kailash, GK, Jangpura, Panchsheel Park, Green Park, and other areas. They buy our medicines regularly. Most of the customers are older men or middle-aged couples,” he said.
In Patna’s Lok Nayak Bhawan, near the Dak Bungalow roundabout, Ashish Keshri of Paragati Patanjali said they had no intimation from the company to stop selling its ayurvedic products.
“The supply chain was disrupted briefly for 10 days during the Lok Sabha election period. If any of the Patanjali products were banned, they would not have been in the supply chain and we would not be selling them,” Keshri said. The HT report said its correspondents procured 13 of the 14 products (one was out of stock) for ₹3,215.
At 7:30 pm on July 9, HT procured all 14 medicines at the Patanjali Arogya Kendra in Lucknow’s Hazratganj for ₹3,370. The shopkeeper said, “All these medicines are available in bulk. We can even give you more than 10 strips of all of them.”
HT representatives also visited two Patanjali stores in Dehradun. At Dev Enterprises on Raipur Road, they were able to buy 13 of the 14 suspended products. Initially reluctant to issue a bill, the shopkeeper eventually did so after getting clearance from his supplier. “There was some confusion about these products and there was a fake report about a ban. A clarification has come from Patanjali and everything is clear now. It is a ban by the media, not in reality,” he said.
A second store at the New Chauhan Arogya Kendra near the IT Park on Sahastradhara Road also had the medicines available. The shopkeeper said, “That these medicines have been suspended is just a rumour. It is a conspiracy by companies who sell modern medicine because people are now turning to Ayurveda.”
The 14 banned Patanjali products are: Swasari Gold, Swasari Vati, Bronchom, Swasari Pravahi, Swasari Avaleh, Mukta Vati Extra Power, Lipidom, BP Grit, Madhugrit, Madhunashini Vati Extra Power, Livamrit Advance, Livogrit, Eyegrit Gold, and Patanjali Drishti Eye Drop.