A related important preceding was the stay of a notification issued by the Ministry of Ayush, which had removed rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, on Tuesday. This rule had earlier banned misleading advertisements for Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani drugs.
The bench, headed by justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta, rejected the ministry’s notification and said that it was a clear violation of the May 7, 2024, order. In that order, the apex court had cast the following conditions: Before any advertisement is allowed, advertisers must make a self-declaration, like the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994.
The court noted while stating: The notification dated July 1 to omit Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, has been issued, which goes against the direction passed by this court by making me of the letter dated August 29, 2023. However, in order to do so, instead of withdrawing the …
According to the bench, which refused to allow the notification that was meant to eliminate the rule, “The operation of the notification dated omitting shall be restrained pending further orders.
For his part, the Centre, the respondent through the Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, informed the court that they would file an affidavit to avail themselves of the stand.
Earlier, the Centre justified its August 2023 letter to states and UTs advising them not to take any action against any entity for violating Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules. The ministry said that the final gazette notification was still in process, so the letter was issued to remove misunderstandings and avoid a legal battle.
The latest interference was made by the apex court while it was still hearing a matter filed in 2022 by the Indian Medical Association, seeking that Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali group launch a smear campaign against the COVID-19 vaccination process and modern medicine.
