The Supreme Court came down heavily on Uttarakhand government for not taking action against Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali for misleading ads, and also rejected the affidavits of Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd MD Acharya Balkrishna tendering apology.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, while hearing the matter, slammed the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority for not taking action against Patanjali Ayurved. “You said thrice that the license will be cancelled, but for two years you did nothing,” the bench told the joint director of the SLA.
The apex court had also questioned the Union government’s alleged inaction over Patanjali’s tall claims about the efficacy of its products and denigrating allopathy during the Covid peak and had asked why the government chose to keep its “eyes shut”.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will not accept the “unconditional and unqualified” apology tendered by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna.
The apology was tendered in response to the contempt of court notices issued by the court in a case in which they had been sued by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for allegedly publishing misleading advertisements, claiming cure for some diseases and criticising the allopathy branch of medicines.
“The apologies that are on record are on paper. We think that having been caught on the wrong foot and noticing that their back is actually against the wall and having gone to town saying all kinds of things on the very next day of the order passed where your counsel had given undertaking, we don’t accept this affidavit,” it said.
“We decline to accept or condone it. We consider it a wilful and deliberate violation of the order and the breach of the undertaking…,” the bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Ramdev and Balkrishna.
In its order, the court said, “Having regard to the entire history of the matter, and the past conduct of the respondents, we have expressed our reservations about accepting the latest affidavit filed by them.” The bench will hear their matter again on April 16.
The court also found fault in the application filed by the duo on the last date of hearing seeking exemption from appearance on the ground that they had to travel abroad.