Uttarakhand HC Directs Baba Ramdev to Share his Company’s Profits with Locals

In a first-of-its-kind order, the Uttarakhand High Court has directed a company run by yoga guru Ramdev to share a percentage of its profits with local farmers and communities.

The Uttarakhand High court has dismissed a petition by Divya pharmacy, an Ayurvedic pharmacy owned by Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, challenging orders to share profits with local and indigenous communities, as part of Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing (FEBS) objectives of the BioDiversity Act, 2002.

The bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia rejected the petition advanced by Divya Pharmacy that it does not have to share its revenue with the local and indigenous communities since it is an Indian company.

While there was no doubt that Divya pharmacy was using biological resources, the question was whether the Uttarakhand Bio-Diversity Board (UBB) could impose FEBS obligations on an Indian company for using said resources.

The High Court ordered the pharmacy to share Rs 2 crore from its profit of Rs 421 crores with the local farmers.