Misleading ads case: SC reserves order on contempt notice issued to Ramdev, Balkrishna, Patanjali Ayurved; exempts them from appearing personally

The Supreme Court on Tuesday exempted Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna from appearing personally in the ongoing Patanjali misleading advertisements case, ANI reported.

Meanwhile, the apex court reserved its order on the contempt notice issued to yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd in the misleading advertisements case.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah noted that the counsel appearing for the firm has sought time to file affidavit indicating the steps being taken to recall the advertisements of those products of Patanjali whose licences have been suspended.

The bench said the affidavit be filed within three weeks.

"Orders are reserved on the contempt notice issued to respondents 5 to 7 (Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, Balkrishna and Ramdev)," the bench said.

During the hearing, Indian Medical Association (IMA) president R V Asokan unconditionally apologised to the bench for his statements made against the apex court in a recent interview to the PTI where he answered questions about Patanjali Ayurved's misleading advertisements case.

"You can't sit on a couch giving an interview to the press and lampooning the court," Justice Kohli told Asokan.

The bench told the IMA's counsel that at this stage, the court was not inclined to accept the affidavit of apology tendered by the IMA president.

While hearing the matter on May 7, the top court had termed as "very, very unacceptable" the statements made by Asokan.

The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) had earlier told the apex court that manufacturing licenses of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy have been "suspended with immediate effect".

The apex court is hearing a plea filed in 2022 by the IMA alleging a smear campaign by Patanjali against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.

(With PTI inputs)