On Wednesday, several publications carried a new apology from yoga guru Ramdev and his assistant Acharya Balkrishna for deceptive advertising of Patanjali’s medical goods. The apology was more substantial this time around because the Supreme Court had chastised the couple for not “prominently” displaying it earlier.
In the commercial, Patanjali Ayurved and Ramdev expressed their “unconditional apologies” for “the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/orders of the Supreme Court of India” in their individual and collective capacities.
“We earnestly apologise for the mistake made in publishing our advertisements and it is our whole-hearted commitment that such errors will not be repeated,” the apology stated.
The Supreme Court had inquired as to whether Patanjali’s newspaper apology was comparable in scope to full-page product adverts during a Tuesday hearing of the contempt proceedings pertaining to the misleading advertisements case.
A panel of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah was informed by Ramdev and Balkrishna that they had apologized unconditionally in public for deceptive advertisements in as many as 67 newspapers and that they were prepared to release further ads expressing their regret. It was alleged that the cost of the adverts was Rs 10 lakh.
A week later, right before the Supreme Court hearing, the bench questioned why the apology had been filed. “Is the apology the same size as your advertisements?” stated Justice Kohli.
Additionally, the court mandated that Patanjali compile the advertisements and present them to the judge.
“Do not enlarge them and supply it to us. We want to see the actual size… we want to see that when you issue an ad it does not mean we have to see it by a microscope. It is not meant to be on papers but also read,” the court further said.
Before that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ramdev and Balkrishna had submitted a “unconditional and unqualified apology” to the Supreme Court about advertisements the company had released that made exaggerated claims about the medicinal benefits of its drugs, such as Coronil.
After the Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed a plea seeking action against Ramdev for criticizing modern medicine, the top court ordered Patanjali to cease all of its product advertisements that claimed to treat ailments and disorders specified in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
In an affidavit, Patanjali Ayurved offered an unequivocal apologies following the Supreme Court ruling, claiming that the company’s sole goal was to encourage Americans to use its products in order to live healthier lives.
The Supreme Court ordered Patanjali Ayurved to cease making deceptive claims and running ads criticizing the contemporary medical system in November 2023. Patanjali promised the court that it would not make any unsupported allegations or assertions.
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