Patanjali's Ramdev, Balkrishna still not off the hook, says Supreme Court
Supreme Court on Tuesday said Patanjali Ayurved Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna and cofounder and self-styled yoga guru Baba Ramdev are still «not off the hook,» despite the duo tendering “unqualified and unconditional apology” in person for promoting misleading advertisements of their ayurveda products.
The apex court also gave Ramdev and Balkrishna a week’s time to take steps “to redeem themselves and demonstrate” their bona fides in relation to the advertisements and asked both to be present before it on April 23, the next hearing.
A bench comprising justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, conversing in Hindi, noted that Ramdev had made significant contributions to yoga. But Justice Kohli said: “We have not decided whether to forgive you or not. We will think about it. Your history is similar. We are keeping in mind your previous role. You have violated (directives) thrice. The earlier orders are under our consideration. You are not so innocent that you do not know what is going on in the court."
Questioning Ramdev, the judges said that despite the SC order, they published the advertisement and went on to “talk poorly about other medical system” to promote their own method. “Ayurveda has been around since the time of Maharishi Charak. Why did you?,” they asked Ramdev.
“We are talking about your attitude. We have summoned you because you have disobeyed our order. You have acted irresponsibly. Medicines that claim to treat incurable diseases are not publicized. No one can do this, no one has done it.
