Supreme Court again refuses to accept Patanjali Ramdev’s apology

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today refused to accept the “unconditional apology” offered by Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Ramdev for not complying with the promises made in the misleading advertising case.

Yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurveda managing director Balkrishna yesterday submitted an unpublished apology to the Supreme Court and sought pardon in the case.

“The apology was on paper. They had already fought against the odds. We refuse to accept that and we believe it was a willful breach of promise,” Justices Seema Kohli and Justice Amanullah said.

The Supreme Court imposed severe punishment on Ramdev and Balkrishna for repeatedly violating its orders and filing improper affidavits. “Mere apology is not enough. You should bear the consequences of violating the court order. We do not want to appear generous in this case,” the judge said.

The Supreme Court also noted that Ramdev and Balkrishna first apologized to the media. “Until the matter came to court, the condemners did not see fit to send us the affidavit. They first sent it to the media and only uploaded it for us at 7.30 pm last night. They clearly believed the propaganda,” Justice Kohli said.

On April 2, the Supreme Court also refused to accept the apology offered by Patanjali to the Supreme Court during an earlier hearing. “We are not satisfied with your apology,” the Supreme Court said.

The judges gave them a last chance to file their affidavits within a week and strongly noted their “absolute contempt” for not adhering to the promises made by the Indian Medical Association in the case. “You have to keep the promises you made to the court and you have broken all barriers,” the judge said.

“You should ensure that this solemn promise should be in letter and spirit. We can also say that we are sorry for not accepting it. Your apology will not convince the court. It is more of a verbal one,” the court said.

On February 27, the Supreme Court directed the company to immediately stop all electronic and print advertisements of its medicines for providing “misleading” information.

The case began in November last year when the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), warned Patanjali Ayurved against making “false” and “misleading” claims in the advertisements of its medicines.

Referring to several advertisements that allegedly cast negative publicity on allopathic medicines and doctors, the IMA said companies involved in manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines had also made “disparaging” remarks to mislead the public.

Lawyers for the IMA said the ads claimed doctors themselves were dying despite taking modern drugs.