NEW DELHI : The Uttarakhand licensing authorities are still delaying action against yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved for repeated violations of an Act that deals with misleading advertisements of Ayush products. This is despite directions from the Prime Minister’s Office and lambasting from the Supreme Court.

The Ayurveda and Unani Services Licensing Authority of Uttarakhand, in its reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by Kerala-based ophthalmologist Dr K V Babu, said the state licensing authority had directed the Haridwar drug inspector to conduct an inspection and take action. The RTI reply came on March 4.

However, this was not the first time that the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authorities gave this answer to Dr Babu, who has been fighting against Patanjali’s misleading advertisements of its drugs for diabetes, obesity, thyroid, and heart diseases.

The Uttarakhand SLA has given the same answer on September 3, 2022, February 2, 2023, and now on February 12, 2024.

“As per the records, a similar direction was given on the same issue since 2022. But no action has been taken until now. This seems to be a ploy used as a delaying tactic to drag the issue,” Dr Babu told this paper.