SC rejects Patanjali’s second apology, says company showed ‘wilful, deliberate disobedience’

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accept a second apology from Patanjali Ayurved’s Managing Director Balkrishna and co-founder, yoga guru Ramdev, in the contempt proceedings initiated against the company for its misleading advertisements, reported Live Law.

The court said that they only apologised when they were “caught on the wrong foot”.

The Supreme Court also castigated the Uttarakhand State Licencing Authority for failing to act against Patanjali and its subsidiary Divya Pharmacy. “We will rip you apart,” a division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said, according to PTI.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association against Patanjali Ayurved Limited accusing the company of carrying out a “smear campaign” against modern medicine and the Covid-19 vaccination drive.

The court reprimanded Balkrishna and Ramdev for an advertisement issued by their company on December 4 after it had said in an undertaking on November 21 that it would not make any “casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine”.

On Wednesday, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Balkrishna and Ramdev, told the court that the apology was “unconditional and unqualified”. The bench, however, did not accept the apology. “We consider it a wilful, deliberate disobedience of the undertaking,” Justice Kohli said.

The court also ordered the current and previous...

Read more