Yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurveda managing director (MD) Acharya Balkrishna appeared in the Supreme Court and apologized for their conduct in the Patanjali misleading advertising case. However, the apex court was not satisfied with his apology and dismissed him and asked him to take the court orders seriously. The Supreme Court made a strict comment and said, 'Do not make excuses for serving the country. Be it the Supreme Court or any court of the country, the order must be followed.
On Tuesday, a two-member bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah heard the contempt of court case against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna in the Supreme Court. Advocate Balbir Singh, appearing on behalf of both, told the Supreme Court that an affidavit has been filed. On this the bench asked where is Ramdev's affidavit?
After this the Supreme Court asked whether both the people had appeared. On this his lawyer said that both the people are present in the court. Then the Supreme Court said that he should have filed two affidavits, but only one was filed and the other was not filed. The Supreme Court said, 'We had earlier asked the company and the MD to file a reply, but when the reply was not filed, a defamation notice was issued.'
The Supreme Court expressed displeasure with Baba Ramdev and Swami Balakrishna. The court said, 'The court's order cannot be taken lightly. You made a promise and then broke it. This is an insult to the highest court of the country and now you are apologizing. This is not acceptable to us.
The court said, 'Your apology is not enough. The hearing was going on in the Supreme Court and Patanjali's advertisements were being published there. Your media department is no different from you, why did you do this? You were warned in November, yet you held a press conference. Even after the court order of 21 November, a press conference was held on behalf of the company Balkrishna and Ramdev the next day.
The Supreme Court said, 'Ramdev held a press conference within 24 hours of the court order. You appear as a promoter in the advertisement. Now he has appeared in the court after 2 months.” On this, Ramdev's lawyer said, 'This will not happen in future. Sorry for the previous mistake.” After this, Ramdev also apologized to the court.
However, the Supreme Court was not satisfied with this. The court said, 'Whether it is the Supreme Court or any other court of the country. Orders must be followed. Are you also asking for conditional pardon?” The Supreme Court said that we will take defamation action. Apology not accepted, you don't know what you have done. On this, Ramdev's lawyer folded hands and apologized to the Supreme Court.