Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI, APR 24 : Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna on Wednesday published a fresh apology in leading newspapers for misleading advertisements of Patanjali’s medicinal products. This time, the apology was bigger in size after the Supreme Court pulled up the duo for not “prominently” displaying it previously.

In the advertisement, Ramdev and Balkrishna said they “unconditionally apologise” in their individual capacity as well as on behalf of Patanjali Ayurved for “the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/orders of the Supreme Court of India”.

 “We earnestly apologise for the mistake made in publishing our advertisements and it is our whole-hearted commitment that such errors will not be repeated,” the apology stated.

Fresh apology issued by Patanjali, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.

During a hearing of the contempt proceedings related to the misleading ads case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had asked if the size of the apology put out in newspapers by Patanjali was similar to full-page advertisements for its products.

Ramdev and Balkrishna had told a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah that they issued unqualified public apology in as many as 67 newspapers over misleading ads and were willing to issue additional advertisements expressing their contrition. They claimed that the advertisements cost Rs 10 lakh.

The bench asked why the apology was filed after one week, just ahead of the Supreme Court hearing. “Is the apology the same size as your advertisements?” Justice Kohli said.

The court also ordered Patanjali to collate the ads and submit them before the bench.

“Do not enlarge them and supply it to us. We want to see the actual size… we want to see that when you issue an ad it does not mean we have to see it by a microscope. It is not meant to be on papers but also read,” the court further said.

Prior to that, Ramdev and Balkrishna had tendered an “unconditional and unqualified apology” before the top court over advertisements issued by the firm making tall claims about the medicinal efficacy of its products like Coronil during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The top court had directed Patanjali to stop all advertisements of its products that it claimed to treat ailments and disorders specified in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, following a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) seeking action against Ramdev for criticising modern medicine.

After the Supreme Court rap, Patanjali Ayurved, in an affidavit, tendered an unconditional apology, stating that Patanjali’s intention was only to exhort the citizens of this country to lead a healthier life by using its products.

In November 2023, the Supreme Court asked Patanjali Ayurved to stop misleading claims and advertisements against the modern system of medicine. Patanjali had assured the court that it would not make any statements or unsubstantiated claims.

-PTI