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Patanjali misleading ads case: Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna issue fresh unconditional apology to SC
Patanjali's Acharya Balkrishna and Baba Ramdev have filed a fresh affidavit issuing an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court after they were hauled up by the apex court for defying its orders.
The SC had imposed an ad ban on Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved and slammed it for flouting orders against misleading ads.
Patanjali Ayurved's managing director Acharya Balkrishna and yoga guru Baba Ramdev have filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court, extending an "unconditional and unqualified apology" in the misleading ads case. The case will be next heard on April 10.
On April 2, the Supreme Court had pulled up Patanjali's Ramdev and Acharya and came down heavily on them for defying its orders and observed that the medical advertisements issued by the Ramdev-led company are in the "teeth of law".'Be ready for action', the Supreme Court told Ramdev, stating that the court would need to take contempt cases to the logical conclusion.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also refused to accept the apology tendered by Patanjali last month. "We are not happy with your apology," the top court said, giving the company one last opportunity to file a 'better' response in its contempt proceedings.
During the previous hearing, the SC severely criticised Ramdev and Balkrishna for not heeding its directives and asked them to be physically present before the court on April 2.
After the hearing, Patanjali Ayurved formally expressed regret to the Supreme Court in response to a notice prompting it to justify why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated for allegedly breaching an assurance provided to the top court on November 21, 2023.
In the affidavit that was filed in response to the notice, Balkrishna regretted that the advertisement in question which was meant to contain only general statements inadvertently included 'offending sentences’. They assured that such ads would not be issued in the future.
The case relates to Patanjali Ayurved's ads. In its ads for medicinal products, Patanjali Ayurved had claimed to cure diseases or ailments. The SC ordered Patanjali to stop such claims and "misleading" ads and had further ordered Patanjali to stop making any statements against allopathy in its ads. The bench had also asked the government to take immediate action against Patanjali Ayurved in the matter.
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