The Supreme Court informed yoga guru Ramdev today that although he has significantly aided in the spread of yoga throughout the nation, it is not prepared to accept his contrition in the case of Patanjali Ayurved regarding its deceptive advertisements and claims of a treatment for Covid-19.
The court had come down heavily on the Patanjali founders during the previous hearing last week. It had also pulled up the Uttarakhand government for not acting against the Haridwar-based company.
The court said that Ramdev and his aide Balkrishna defamed allopathic medicines to promote their own Ayurvedic treatment for incurable diseases. “Despite the order of the court, you published the advertisement and said those things. Ayurveda has been around since the time of Maharishi Charak. Why did you talk poorly about other medical system to promote your own method?” the court asked the yoga guru. “We did not have such intentions. We researched more than 5,000 processes,” he responded. “We are talking about your attitude. We have summoned you because you have disobeyed our order,” the court sai
The matter dates back to the Covid years, when Patanjali launched a drug, Coronil, in 2021 and Ramdev described it as the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19”. Justice A Amanullah asked if the apology is “even heartfelt”. “Tendering apology is not enough. You should suffer the consequences for violating the court’s order,” he said. The court asked Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear in front of it again in a week’s time on April 23 to show the intent behind their apology.
