The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the "unconditional
and unqualified apology" offered by Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Baba
Ramdev and his close aide Acharya Balkrishna in connection with the company’s
misleading advertisements, asserting that the court does not want to be “so
generous in this case.”
The apex court said the apology by Ramdev and Balkrishna, the
Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurved, and was merely on paper and warned that
they should be ready to face penal action for violation of the undertaking.
"Their back is against the wall. We decline to accept this.
We consider it a deliberate violation of undertaking. Be ready for something
next to rejection of affidavit," Justice Hima Kohli told senior advocate
Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Patanjali.
Justices Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah refused to accept the
apology for airing the advertisements in breach of an undertaking given to the
court in November last year.
The court also refused to accept the apology affidavit filed by
Ramdev, who is also facing contempt proceedings.
"Why should we not treat your
apology with the same disdain as shown to court undertaking? We are not
convinced. Now going to turn down this apology," Justice Kohli said.
"One man seeks mercy. What about those countless innocent
people who took the medicines?" the court told Rohatgi.
When Rohatgi said: "People make mistakes", Justice
Kohli retorted, saying: "Then they suffer. We don't want to be so generous
in this case."
Towards the end of the hearing, Rohatgi said Patanjali Ayurved
was prepared to issue a public apology. The court, however, did not entertain
this.
The apex court also came down heavily on Uttarakhand’s licensing
authorities for failing to take legal action against Patanjali and its
subsidiary Divya Pharmacy. The bench asked why it should not think that the
authorities were “hand in glove” with Patanjali/Divya Pharmacy.
In its order, the court said it was "appalled" to note
that, apart from "pushing the file", the State Licensing Authorities
did nothing and were merely trying to "pass on the buck" to
"somehow delay the matter."
It said the State Licensing Authority was "equally
complicit" due to its inaction against Divya Pharmacy despite having
information about their advertisements violating the Drugs and Magic Remedies
(Objectionable Advertisements) Act.
The court has told all officers holding the post of Joint
Director of the State Licensing Authority, Haridwar between 2018 and till date
to file affidavits explaining inaction on their part.
The court said it would not take it lightly as the authority
appeared to have kept its "eyes shut deliberately".
"We will rip you apart," it said.
False claims of travel
The court said Patanjali MD & Baba Ramdev tried to evade
personal appearance before the court by making false claims of travelling
abroad.
"The
fact remains that on the date when the affidavits were sworn (March 30), there
was no such ticket in existence. Therefore, the assumption is that the
respondents were trying to wriggle out of their personal appearance before the
court, which is most unacceptable," the court said.