In compliance with its direction, both appeared in court to face contempt proceedings and the court directed them to come again on the next date of hearing on April 10 after rejecting their affidavits.
At the outset of hearing, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said that the apology expressed by them in their affidavits was not unconditional and the regret was not sufficient after violating the undertaking given by the company for not publishing misleading claims of their products. The court also told them they cannot shield themselves by pinning blame on their officials.
“It is a violation of undertaking given to the highest court of the land and it cannot be taken lightly. Your apology is not persuading the court. It is a mere lip service. You have to ensure that your undertaking which is solemn should have been adhered to. You violated the solemn undertaking with impunity,” the bench said.
The court said that their affidavit was not convincing and they could not get away. “Sorry, we are not so magnanimous,” the bench said.
The Centre and Uttarakhand govt also came under severe criticism for “keeping its eyes shut” on the misdeeds of Patanjali and giving it a long rope despite the company violating the law and claiming to cure incurable diseases including Covid-19 in violation of law.
As lawyers of Ramdev and Balkrishna were facing the ire of the court, it was the solicitor general whose intervention came as a relief as he assured the court that as an officer of the court he would sit with them to draft a proper affidavit. He agreed that their conduct was not acceptable.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Indian Medical Association.
The apex court had in its earlier hearing in Nov recorded Patanjali’s lawyer Sajan Poovayya assurance that the company won’t publish such misleading advertisements.
