Supreme Court Not Satisfied With Apology Ads of Patanjali Ayurved

New Delhi: Hearing the misleading ads case against Patanjali Ayurved, the Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its dissatisfaction over the apology published by the company and asked if the size of an apology it put out in newspapers was similar to its full-page advertisements of its products.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Patanjali founders Ramdev and Balkrishna, said they have filed a fresh set of apologies before the court.

The bench asked why the apologies were filed on Monday and not earlier. When Rohatgi said the apology was published in 67 newspapers at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, the court said. “Has the apology been published prominently? Same font and size as your earlier advertisements?”

When Rohatgi said the company had spent lakhs, the court replied, “We are not bothered.”

The court noted that it has received an application seeking a Rs 1000 crore fine against the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for its case against Patanjali. “Is it a proxy plea? We suspect,” the bench said.

The Supreme Court adjourned the matter for a week after Ramdev promised to publish a bigger apology in newspapers.

Hours ahead of a Supreme Court hearing in the misleading ads case against it, Patanjali Ayurved put out an apology in national newspapers, stating that that they have utmost respect for the court and that their mistakes will not be repeated.

Patanjali Ayurved and its founders, Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balkrishna, have been slammed by a Supreme Court bench over the company’s misleading claims to cure diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The court has earlier rejected apologies from Ramdev and Balkrishna, saying they were “not heartfelt” and “more of a lip service”.