Uttarakhand HC orders Baba Ramdev's Patanjali and Divya pharmacy to share profits with farmers and local communities
In an order challenging the Baba Ramdev’s stand of being ‘Swadeshi,’ the Uttarakhand High Court has directed Patanjali to share its profits with locals.
The High Court has asked yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s company Patanjali and its subsidiary Divya pharmacy to share a percentage of its profits with the farmers and other communities.
The high court had rejected the petition of Divya Pharmacy which had went to the court against the decision of Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board and the court upheld the provisions under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and asked Baba Ramdev’s company to equally share profit accordingly as per the law.
‘Earlier, UBB had directed the pharmacy to share the amount with the farmers and local communities out of its profit as per the Biological Diversity Act. The pharmacy had claimed that the UBB neither had the powers nor jurisdiction to pass such an order and it was not liable to pay or make any kind of contribution.’
As per news agency PTI, “The court held that India was a party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the country was under an obligation to give effect to the provisions of the treaty. The court said the UBB was within rights to pass the order demanding the amount, as the biological resources were not only a national property, but also belong to the communities which produce these.”
First published: 29 December 2018, 17:59 IST