Karnataka High Court Stops Trial Against Patanjali’s Divya Pharmacy And Acharya Balakrishna In Misleading Ads Case
Karnataka High Court Today (June 24) stayed legal proceedings against Divya Pharmacy and Acharya Balakrishna in a misleading ad case. The case relates to products for blood pressure and diabetes that allegedly made objectionable claims.
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BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court today stayed the ongoing trial against Divya Pharmacy, which is linked to Patanjali Ayurved, and its co-founder Acharya Balakrishna. The trial was based on a complaint about false or misleading advertisements of some health products.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar passed this temporary order (interim stay) after Divya Pharmacy and Acharya Balakrishna filed a petition asking the court to cancel the private complaint and stop the criminal trial that followed.
Senior Advocate Sandesh Chouta, who appeared for Divya Pharmacy and Balakrishna, told the High Court that the lower trial court had made a mistake by accepting the private complaint directly. He explained that cases under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 should first have a police complaint, as said by the Supreme Court earlier.
The lawyer also explained that the complaint was related to two Divya Pharmacy products—one used for blood pressure and the other for diabetes. The person who filed the complaint said that the way these products were advertised was objectionable.
The lawyer asked if this really counts as a wrong or misleading advertisement under the law. He strongly pointed out,
“And it is not a case where we don’t have licence.”
The High Court noted that the opposite lawyer needed more time to reply, so it adjourned the case for now. It also passed an interim stay, meaning the trial in the lower court has been paused temporarily.
As per public records, this private complaint was filed earlier in February 2025 in the court of the Third Additional Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate in Mysuru.
The complaint was filed under Section 4 (about banning misleading drug advertisements) and Section 7 (about punishment) of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
On June 3, the trial court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Divya Pharmacy and Acharya Balakrishna because they did not appear in court, even after being sent legal summons.
Later, the trial court cancelled the NBW after the accused’s lawyer appeared and explained that they did not skip the court intentionally.
The court was informed that the accused live in Haridwar, and they couldn’t send their vakalath (legal authorization for their lawyer) in time. That’s why their advocate couldn’t attend the earlier hearings.
After hearing this, the trial court passed an order on June 16, cancelling the NBW, and said the accused must come to court for the next hearing on June 30.
But now, the High Court has paused the case, so the trial will not go ahead on that date, unless the High Court gives further directions.
CASE TITLE:
M/S Divya Pharmacy and anr vs State of Karnataka and anr.
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