The Supreme Court today granted Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd. co-founder Baba Ramdev and managing director Acharya Balkrishna a one-week period to take action in connection with misleading advertisements of Ayurvedic products. I was given a reprieve.
They told the court that they wanted to redeem themselves and prove their honesty regarding advertising.
Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna to issue public apology
The Supreme Court’s order came after Ramdev and Balkrishna’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said the two were ready to issue a public apology to show their regret over the advertisement. The court listed the case for hearing on April 23.
On April 10, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Asanuddin Amanullah accepted “unconditional” and “unconditional” apologies from Mr. Ramdev and Mr. Balkrishna in a contempt case related to misleading advertising. refused twice.
Today, the Supreme Court questioned Mr. Ramdev and Mr. Balkrishna, who were physically present during the incident. Mr. Ramdev said that Mr. Patanjali has offered an unconditional and unconditional apology for any mistake committed.
To Ramdev’s interrogation, the Supreme Court said, “Despite the court’s orders, you published advertisements and said such things. Ayurveda has been in existence since the time of Maharishi Charak. Why did you “Did he say bad things about other health systems to promote his method?” ? ” In response, Ramdev said he had no such intention and that Patanjali had investigated more than 5,000 processes.
You acted irresponsibly…we are talking about your attitude: SC
“We are talking about your behavior. We summoned you because you disobeyed our orders,” the Supreme Court said.
Ramdev apologized for the same, saying he should not have made such remarks and said he would address the matter in the future.
“No drug that claims to cure an incurable disease has been published. No one can do this and no one has ever done this. It’s a completely irresponsible act to go to the press…The law is equal for everyone,” he said. the court stated.
“We talked about what we did with enthusiasm for allopathy. We will be careful from now on,” Ramdev said.
Turning to Mr. Balkrishna, the Supreme Court warned him that Mr. Patanjali cannot disparage or criticize other health systems. The Supreme Court said Patanjali was wrong in making statements against allopathy. Ramdev said allopathy was called pseudoscience and there was always a controversy between Ayurveda and allopathy.
The court said that if the lawyer had given an undertaking to the court about the misleading advertisement, Mr Ramdev and Mr Balkrishna could not be said to have been ignorant of something. “You cannot repeat that over and over again. You cannot be called innocent,” the bench said. “We have not forgiven you yet. We will think about it. Your history is similar. We have not forgiven you. We will bear in mind your previous role. “The last order is on our attention. You are not innocent. We do not know what is going on in the courtroom.”
background:
In February, the Supreme Court slammed misleading advertisements about the medicinal properties of Patanjali products. The court had prohibited the company from advertising or branding its products as claiming to treat ailments covered by the Narcotics and Magical Remedies (Offensive Advertising) Act 1954. The court also warned Patanjali Ayurveda, the parent company of Patanjali Foods, not to issue any statements. As the company has done before, in all media, in all forms, for all health systems.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association, which had raised concerns over the continuous, systematic and unabated spread of misinformation about allopathic medicines and modern medicine. The petition also sought action against Ramdev for misleading advertisements.
On November 21, the Supreme Court reprimanded Patanjali and asked the company to stop making false and misleading claims and advertisements against the modern healthcare system. “All such false and misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurveda must stop immediately. It may also consider imposing a fee of Rs.” for certain diseases to be treated,” the court said.
However, the next day, Mr. Ramdev and Mr. Balkrishna held a press conference and made misleading claims, the opposing lawyers claimed. The court was also miffed by an advertisement issued by Patanjali on December 4, which allegedly violated the undertaking given to the court. Press conferences and advertisements claimed that Patanjali could permanently cure diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, asthma, arthritis and glaucoma.
Published on: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 2:36 PM IST
