The Supreme Court on Tuesday, exempted yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Baba Ramdev from personally appearing for the next hearing in the misleading ads case.
Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah recognised the apology issued by Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna in newspapers. The bench also observed the the apology issued earlier was too small and didn’t mention any names besides that of Patanjali Ayurved.
The court said, “Now there appears to be marked improvement, the ads are now bigger, new ad also mentions Baba Ramdev, the language is adequate. For now, we will allow exemption only for the next date of hearing.”
Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Ramdev, also said that he is filing a contempt case against the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for their remarks on the court order.
Read More: Patanjali misleading ads case: Uttarakhand SLA apologises to Supreme Court
Earlier, the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) apologised to the Supreme Court for unsatisfactory action against Patanjali Ayurved in the misleading ads case, reported Bar and Bench.
The Uttarakhand SLA has filed a criminal compliant against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna for violating the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, it said in an affidavit filed on Saturday.
The Indian Medical Association had earlier, filed a plea against Patanjali Ayurved in response to an alleged smear campaign against the Covid-19 vaccination drive and other modern medicine. The affidavit was filed in response to the plea.