New Delhi: Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali Ayurved and an aide of Yoga guru Ramdev, has apologised to the Supreme Court for the company's misleading claims about its products and their medicinal efficacy.
The affidavit was filed yesterday, a day after the court came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for not responding to a contempt notice over misleading advertisements. The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah had asked Balkrishna and Ramdev to appear in court on April 2.
In an affidavit filed in the court, Mr Balkrishna has said he has the highest regards for the rule of law. Extending an "unqualified apology", he said the company will "ensure that such advertisements are not issued in the future".
Mr Balkrishna clarified that the company's "intention is only to exhort the citizens of this country to lead a healthier life by consuming products" of Patanjali, including those "for lifestyle ailments through the use age old literature and materials supplementing and backed by ayurvedic research".
He also said that provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, which prohibits advertisements of magic cure claims, is "archaic" and the last changes in the legislation were made when "scientific evidence in Ayurveda research were lacking". Patanjali, the affidavit said, now has "evidence-based scientific data with clinical research
conducted in Ayurveda, which would demonstrate the advances made through scientific research in the context of diseases mentioned in the said schedule".
"In light of the same it is humbly submitted that the Deponent's only quest is for a better and healthier life for each and every citizen and to reduce the burden on the countries healthcare infrastructure by providing holistic, evidence based solutions for lifestyle related medical complications through the usage of age old traditional approach of Ayurveda and Yoga (sic)," it added.
Founded in 2006 by Mr Ramdev and Mr Balkrishna, Patanjali Ayurved is a multinational conglomerate that manufactures a long list of products, ranging from ayurvedic medicine to cosmetics to food items.
The conglomerate has run into trouble over misleading advertisements about the efficacy of their products.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court came down heavily on Patanjali, citing its failure to respond to a notice for contempt proceedings. The court directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear before it. It also noted that Patanjali Ayurved's advertisements were in the teeth of an undertaking given to the court last year.
On November 21 last year, Patanjali's counsel had assured the court that "henceforth there shall not be any violation of any law(s), especially relating to advertising or branding of products manufactured and marketed by it and, further, that no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy or against any system of medicine will be released to the media in any form".
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) that alleged a smear campaign by Ramdev against the Covid vaccination drive and modern medicine.