Hearing the Patanjali misleading advertisement case, the Supreme Court asked whether the apology published by Patanjali Ayurved was as big as the advertisements. The apex court asked Patanjali to produce original paper cuttings of the apology during the next hearing. Both Ramdev and Balkrishna were present in the court for the hearing.
Hearing the case, Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi representing Ramdev and Balkrishna about the size of the ad. While the counsel responded the apology was published in 67 papers and cost tens of lakhs of rupees, the bench asked Patanjali's lawyers to bring on record a copy of the apology ads.
Justice Kohli said, “Cut the actual newspaper clippings and keep them handy. For you to photocopy by enlarging, it may not impress us. We want to see the actual size of the ad. When you issue an apology, it does not mean that we have to see it by a microscope," LiveLaw reported.
The bench has posted the matter for hearing on April 30. On April 16, the apex court had warned Ramdev and Balkrishna against any attempt to "degrade allopathy" and permitted them to tender a "public apology and show contrition" within a week in the contempt proceedings in the misleading advertisements case against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.
The court, however, had made it clear that it was not letting them "off the hook" yet. The apex court is hearing a plea filed in 2022 by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.
-with inputs from agencies.