The Supreme Court today handed down severe punishment to Patanjali Ayurved for failing to respond to a contempt notice for publishing misleading advertisements, And ordered yoga guru Ramdev to appear in court.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also summoned Patanjali Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna.

Last month, the Supreme Court withdrew Patanjali for violating an undertaking he had made in court regarding his products and their claims about their efficacy. The court has issued notices to Patanjali and Balkrishna asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

It noted today that Patanjali had not responded despite holding a press conference following the earlier order. “Why have you not filed your response yet? We will ask the managing director to appear before the next hearing,” the court said.

The order stated that Ramdev and Balakrishna had clearly violated the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Remedies Act, which deals with misleading advertisement of medicines.

The court also issued a contempt notice to Patanjali co-founder Ramdev and asked him to explain why he should not face proceedings for contempt of court.

Patanjali Ayurved’s barrister Mukul Rohatgi opposed the move and wondered “How did Ramdev get involved?”

“You’re in court. We’ll see another time. That’s enough,” the court replied.

Justice Amanullah said: “We were helpless earlier but not now. As an officer of the court, you (Mr Rohatgi) should know where you stand.”

The court was hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) accusing Ramdev of running a smear campaign against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.

On February 27, it issued a contempt notice to Patanjali and warned them not to make any statements in the media against any system of medicine. It also investigated the center for failure to take action, saying they sat with their eyes closed.