A day after the Supreme Court questioned the size of Patanjali Ayurved‘s public apology in certain newspapers over “misleading” ads, the company issued another apology in newspapers on Wednesday.
As per reports, today’s apology published in certain newspapers were significantly “larger” than the earlier one.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that Patanjali Ayurved‘s apology for “misleading” advertisements in newspapers should be prominent in size.
As per reports, the latest apology, signed by Baba Ramdev, Founder of Patanjali Ayurved, and Acharya Balkrishna, Managing Director, read: “In wake of on ongoing matter before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Writ Petition C. No. 645/2022), we in our individual capacity as well as on behalf of the Company, unconditionally apologise for the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/ orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. We unconditionally extend the apology for holding meeting/press conference dated 22.11.2023. We earnestly apologize for the mistake made in publishing our advertisements and it is our whole- hearted commitment that such errors will not be repeated. We undertake to abide by directions and instructions of the Hon’ble Court with due care and utmost sincerity. We undertake to uphold the majesty of the court and comply with applicable laws and directions of the Hon’ble Court of law/relevant authorities.”
Following Patanjali’s printed apologies in 67 newspapers, as informed by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi to the Court, to express regret for their actions, yesterday the Court questioned whether these apologies were prominent in size to be easily noticed.
Justice Kohli asked, “Was it of the same size as your earlier ads?”
Rohatgi, appearing for Patanjali replied, “No milord .. It costs a lot.. Lakhs of rupees.”
The Court ordered Patanjali to submit printed copies of the apologies to examine their size.
Justice Kohli stated, “Please cut out the ads and then supply it to us. Do not enlarge them and supply it to us. We want to see the actual size. This is our direction… We want to see that when you issue an (apology) ad, it does not mean we have to see it by a microscope. It is not meant to be on papers, but also read.”
Earlier, the Court pulled up Patanjali Ayurved after discovering that their ads were “misleading” and “derogatory” to modern medicine.
Following this, Patanjali, Ramdev, and Balkrishna were also criticised for the casual nature of their apology affidavits filed before the Court.
Previously, the judge spoke with Ramdev and Balkrishna to assess the sincerity of their apologies. However, the judge emphasised that they were still not off the hook. They had assured the Court, via their lawyer, that they would willingly take action to demonstrate the sincerity of their apology.
In yesterday’s court order, it was acknowledged that Patanjali requested to release more advertisements to express its sincere apology for its lapses.
