A court in Uttarakhand has sentenced a Patanjali official and two others to six months in jail after samples taken from Patanjali Navratna Elaichi Soan Papdi (a traditional sweet) failed a quality test. In September 2019, the District Food Safety Officer of Pithoragarh collected the samples from a shop in Berinag Market following concerns about the product.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Pithoragarh, Sanjay Singh, sentenced Abhishek Kumar, Assistant General Manager of Patanjali Food and Herbal Park, Laksar; Ajay Joshi, Assistant Manager of Kanha Ji Distributor Private Limited Ramnagar; and shopkeeper Leeladhar Pathak to six months imprisonment under Section 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
The court fined Patanjali Ayurveda Limited and Ajay Joshi Rs 10,000 each, while Abhishek Kumar was ordered to pay Rs 25,000 and Pathak Rs 5,000. The samples collected from Leeladhar Pathak’s shop on September 17, 2019, were sent to a testing lab in Rudrapur.
The test results revealed the product’s substandard quality, leading the District Food Safety Officer to register cases against the three men. The Chief Judicial Magistrate further stated that if the three accused fail to serve their sentences, they will face additional imprisonment ranging from 7 days to 6 months.
This development comes as Patanjali is embroiled in a misleading advertisements case. The Supreme Court has reserved its order on contempt notices issued to yoga guru Baba Ramdev and others in the case. It has also exempted Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved managing director Acharya Balkrishna from physically appearing in court hearings.