New Delhi: A day after being questioned by the Supreme Court on whether their printed apology in newspapers was as big as their misleading ads, Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Ramdev and managing director Acharya Balkrishna had issued a fresh apology in the newspapers on Wednesday (April 24) morning.
When questioned about the size of the ads on Tuesday, Patanjali’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi told the bench that the ad had appeared in 67 newspapers and that it costs “tens of lakhs”.
Justice Hima Kohli had asked in response, “Does it cost the same tens of lakhs of rupees for the full-page advertisements you published? We are wondering.” The bench also reprimanded Patanjali’s lawyers for not producing a copy of the apology published by them.
The case pertains to the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA’s) petition against Ramdev’s controversial statements about modern medicine, including India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive and alleged misleading advertisements about Patanjali Ayurved products.
On November 21, the Supreme Court had asked Patanjali to immediately stop publishing misleading claims and advertisements against modern systems of medicine, warning of a hefty fine if it does not. Later, the IMA came back to the bench and showed a video clip which was of a press conference held by Ramdev on November 22 where he said that remedies for blood pressure were “lies spread by allopathy’’. Moreover, the medical body pointed out that Ramdev’s firm continued to circulate several false advertisements claiming to permanently cure aliments like hypertension and diabetes.
On February 27, the Supreme Court issued a contempt notice to Patanjali Ayurved and Balakrishna, for continuing to run the advertisements and banned the firm from running medical advertisements temporarily. The apex court also slammed the Union government for “sitting with its eyes shut” and not taking any action on the advertisements. During the subsequent hearings on March 19, April 2 and April 10, the bench had called Ramdev and Balkrishna in person, asking them to show cause why they should not be punished for contempt of court.
The court has so far rejected two apologies issued by Ramdev and Balkrishna, calling them “mere lip service”. It is yet to take a call on whether the third apology will be accepted.
