"You are not innocent": Supreme Court rebukes yoga guru Ramdev again

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, April 16, 2024: The Supreme Court on Tuesday told Baba Ramdev that he was "not so innocent" as it came down heavily on the yoga guru while hearing the contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved in connection with the misleading advertisements of the company’s medicinal products. The court also criticised him for his "irresponsible behaviour".

 

A two-judge bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said the next hearing will take place on April 23. It also granted Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, who were physically present in court, one-week’s time to publicly apologise.
The yoga guru told the court that they offered an "unconditional apology for the mistakes we made".

"What we did at the time was not correct. We will kept it in mind in the future," he added.

The bench, however, said that the "law is equal for everyone. Whatever you did, you did all this following your undertaking and our order. You know you can’t advertise about incurable diseases?"

To this, Ramdev replied that they conducted many tests.

"This is irresponsible behaviour. Previous history of yours is damaging. We will think over it, whether to accept your apology or not. Aapne lagatar violations kiye (you have made repeated violations). You are not so innocent that you were completely unaware of what was going on in court ... At this moment, we are not saying they’re off the hook," the bench said.

On his part, Justice Amanullah said, "Aap dil se mafi nahe maang rahe hail (Your apology is not coming from your heart). This is not done."

On April 10, the Supreme Court dismissed Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna’s "unconditional apology", saying their actions were "wilful, deliberate and repeated violations" of the top court’s orders.

The petition against Patanjali Ayurved has been filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

During the hearing on April 10, the same bench of Justices Kohli and Amanullah came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved and criticised it for "taking contempt of court proceedings lightly". The court had said that it was "not satisfied with anything said in the affidavit".

The top court also blasted the Uttarakhand government for providing a licence for Patanjali products and asked the state’s licensing authority, "Do you have the guts to do what you are doing? You are acting as a post office."

"We have strong objection to use of word ’bonafide’ for officers. We are not going to take lightly. We will rip you apart," Justice Amanullah said.