Ramdev, Balkrishna tender unconditional apology to SC for misleading ads
New Delhi: Yoga guru Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, the managing director of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, have issued an “unconditional and unqualified apology” to the Supreme Court for their company’s advertisements, which made exaggerated claims about the medicinal benefits of its products.
Ramdev and Balkrishna submitted separate affidavits to the Supreme Court, expressing their sincere apologies for violating the court’s order from November 21, 2023.
In this order, the court had recorded Patanjali Ayurved’s assurance that it would not violate any laws, particularly those related to advertising or branding of its products, and that it would not make any casual statements about the medicinal efficacy of its products or against any system of medicine to the media.
The court had stated that Patanjali Ayurved Ltd was obligated to adhere to this assurance. However, the company’s failure to observe this assurance and the subsequent media statements annoyed the court, which then issued a notice to them to explain why they should not be held in contempt.
In his affidavit, Ramdev expressed his “unconditional apology” for the advertisements issued after the court’s order on November 21, 2023, which he understood to be an injunction. He deeply regretted this oversight and assured the court that it would not happen again. He also apologised for a press conference held on November 22, 2023, and promised not to make any public statements that could violate the court’s order.
Similarly, Balkrishna also apologised unconditionally for violating the court’s order from November 21, 2023. He expressed deep regret for the advertisements issued by Patanjali, which violated the court’s order, and assured the court that such a lapse would not occur in the future.
The matter is scheduled to be heard by Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah on Wednesday. On April 2, the court had harshly criticised Ramdev and Balkrishna and dismissed their apology as insincere. It had also questioned the government’s alleged lack of action regarding Patanjali’s exaggerated claims about its products’ efficacy and its disparagement of allopathy during the peak of the Covid pandemic.
The court is currently hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which alleges that there has been a smear campaign against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.
On March 19, the court had ordered Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear before it due to the company’s failure to respond to the notice issued in the case related to the advertisements of the company’s products and their medicinal efficacy.
