The Supreme Court pulled up Patanjali over misleading advertisements (File)
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved’s co-founder Ramdev and Managing Director Balakrishna for failing to obey its directives over company’s misleading advertisements.
The top court observed that advertisements issued by Patanjali are in the “teeth of law” of the land. “Be ready for action,” the Supreme Court told Ramdev.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also refused to accept an apology tendered by Patanjali last month after the top court rap. “We are not happy with your apology,” the top court said.
“You should have made sure that the solemn undertaking should have been in letter and spirit. We can also say that we are sorry for not accepting it. Your apology is not persuading this court. It is more of a lip service,” the Supreme Court said.
After which, Ramdev’s lawyer said both Ramdev and Balakrishna are ready to personally apologise in the court. “We want to apologise and are ready for whatever the court says,” the yoga guru’s lawyer told the court with folded hands.
The Supreme Court also pulled up the Centre for not taking action and said they were sitting with their eyes shut. “We are wondering why the government chose to keep their eyes shut ,” the bench had said.
On February 27, the top court had directed the company to stop all electronic and print advertisements of its medicines giving misleading” information with immediate effect.
The case began in November last year when the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), cautioned Patanjali Ayurved against making “false” and “misleading” claims in advertisements about its medicines.
IMA had referred to several advertisements which allegedly projected the allopathy and the doctors in poor light, saying that “disparaging” statements have also been made by firms, engaged in the production of ayurvedic medicines, to mislead the general public.
These commercials say that the medical practitioners themselves are dying despite taking modern medicines, the counsel for the IMA had said.