The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that its authorities will not carry out, until further orders, the raids and confiscation drives against Ayurvedic products over alleged misleading “indication” labels of Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali Ayurved Limited claiming cure for cancer, diabetes, and other ailments.

The assurance came after the Court asked the Central government to state its position on whether and how indication-based labelling of Ayurvedic products should be regulated across the country.
The state government had recently seized alleged misbranded medicines manufactured by Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali Ayurvedic Limited.

They challenged the seizures conducted across the state and argued that the issue required an all-India policy stand instead of state-level action, after which the HC sought the Centre’s response within two weeks.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam A Ankhad was hearing a batch of pleas by Divya Pharmacy and Patanjali Ayurved Limited challenging action initiated by the state government’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act related to labels on Ayurvedic products of the petitioners.

Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, representing the petitioners, claimed that indication labelling has been an industry-wide practice in Ayurveda, therefore, it cannot be construed as misleading and should not be treated as a Patanjali-specifc violation.

“Every possible Ayurvedic drug sold in the market has it (indication labelling). There should not be an unfair condition put only on the petitioners, which takes away their entire plus marketability, while others are permitted to do it,” Saraf argued.

The state’s lawyer, however, denied claims of selective action.

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, told the HC that the government intended to take a uniform position on labelling and advertising concerning all the states in the country.

“These are the medicines which are also prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors and the country has recognised Ayurveda as a science of treating patients of various diseases. So, confiscating or any harsh action would also be harmful because the doctors who are qualified to prescribe also will not be able to prescribe. Till the court takes holistic view of the matter, the relief sought by the petitioners can be granted,” he argued.

Chief Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray, for the state, in view of the Centre’s submission, told the court that “Maharashtra government would not precipitate the issue by continuing further raids and seizures, raids and confiscations of manufactured products of Ayurvedic pharmaceutical companies.”

The HC then issued notice to the respondent authorities and sought the Centre’s reply by June 25.

The court said it would consider the plea for interim relief on merits during the next hearing on July 2.