Co-founders of Patanjali Ayurved Limited, yoga guru Ramdev and Balkrishna, extended a public apology on Wednesday, April 24th in a case involving accusations of misleading advertisements. The apology appeared in newspapers across the country a day after facing inquiries from the Supreme Court.
The apex court previously questioned Ramdev and Balkrishna about the size and prominence with which they displayed their initial apology resulting from past misleading advertisements. “Is it the same size of advertisements that you normally issue in newspapers?” Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah queried.
An “unconditional public apology” was printed by Patanjali following this interrogation – visibly larger in scale than before. It read, “We unconditionally extend the [previous] apology for holding meeting/press conference dated 22.11.2023… We earnestly apologize for errors made in publishing our advertisements… We undertake to uphold laws and comply with instructions of relevant authorities.”
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Ramdev and Balkrishna during proceedings clarified that they had published an unqualified “unconditional public” mea culpa to rectify their “lapses”.
Questioned by justices regarding exact publications where they issued apologies, Rohatgi confirmed printings across 67 national newspapers.
They faced further probing from justices on visibility: was it prominent? In reply to this challenge from bench members asking for physical copies as proof – Rohatgi assured collection of cutouts showcasing published apologies will be submitted within two days.
Regarding previous allegations towards Patanjali; certain claims concerning its product’s medicinal efficacy led them to issue earlier apologies prior to recent developments.
Ramdev’s associate Balkrishna too has faced similar interrogation pertaining to his part in potentially misleading promotional activities by company representatives who were accused of making tall medicinal claims about their products.
Future deliberations on this matter are due to continue with a Supreme Court verdict expected on April 30th. The herbal products company vows for more responsibility in its future promotional activities, ensuring compliance with statutory laws and upholding the sanctity of judiciary directives – keeping the faith of consumers in its integrity as paramount.