The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 13, 2024) closed contempt proceedings against yoga guru Baba Ramdev, his close associate Acharya Balkrishna, and Patanjali Ayurved Limited, the company they co-founded, for defying a court undertaking to not publish misleading advertisements of their herbal products in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, and making derogatory statements about other systems of treatment.
A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah accepted the unconditional apology submitted by the contemnors, and also published in various regional and national dailies.
However, the court noted that the “wisdom of tendering an unconditional apology had dawned belatedly” on the yoga guru, his aide and the company. Their first affidavits submitted in court and the initial publication of their apology in newspapers had been “qualified”. But since then, the contemnors had got their act together and had made sincere efforts to purge themselves.
Justice Kohli, who authored the judgment, said “any apology tendered by a party in contempt proceedings must be unconditional and unqualified”.
“Tendering a qualified apology is akin to a game of dice. It could either have a positive outcome or a negative result. If the contemnor tenders a conditional apology and expects luck to play a role in the outcome of such an apology, then he should be ready to face the consequence of an outright rejection,” Justice Kohli wrote.
The Bench cautioned the yoga guru and the two other contemnors that the consequences of any future breach of their undertakings to the Supreme Court would have grave consequences for them.
“Any future intransigence on their part, whether by act, deed or speech that could tantamount to violating the orders of the court or dishonouring the terms of the undertakings, shall be viewed strictly, and the ensuing consequences could indeed be grave. In that eventuality, the sword of contempt that has now been returned to rest in its sheath, shall be flourished as swiftly as these proceedings were originally initiated,” Justice Kohli warned.
The court had reserved the contempt case for judgment on May 14 after the original newspaper cuttings of the public apologies issued by the trio were placed on record.
Under fire from the apex court for negligence and apathy, the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority had finally woken up to suspend the manufacture of 14 Patanjali products.
The Bench had made it clear that the objectionable and misleading advertisements issued by Patanjali, and endorsed by Mr. Ramdev, to cure everything from diabetes and obesity to liver dysfunction and even COVID-19 during the months of the pandemic, were “deliberate and wilful violations” of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act of 1954 and its Rules.
The apex court had initiated contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. and Mr. Balkrishna on February 27 for violating an undertaking given to it in November 2023 that they would refrain from advertising “cures” in violation of the 1954 Act.
On November 21, 2023, the apex court had directed the company to not make any “casual statements” to print or electronic media about the efficacy of their medicinal products or indulge in any disparaging statements about other disciplines of medicine, including allopathy. However, the very next day, Mr. Ramdev had held a press conference.
