NEW DELHI: The
Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Indian Medical Association president Dr RV Asokan for his disparaging remarks on court proceedings and rejected his affidavit seeking apology. The court also reserved its order in the
Patanjali misleading advertisements case against Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and the company.
During the hearing, the SC bench consisting of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah pulled up RV Asokan who had offered an unconditional apology to the bench for his statements.
The IMA chief had spoken against the court in a recent interview with news agency PTI while taking about the Patanjali misleading ads case. Rapping Asokan, Justice Kohli said, "You can't sit on a couch giving an interview to the press and lampooning the court."The bench also informed the IMA's counsel that it was not inclined to accept Asokan's affidavit of apology at this stage. Earlier on May 7, the the top court had termed the statements made by the IMA president "very, very unacceptable".
Meanwhile, the counsel representing the firm sought time to file an affidavit detailing the steps being taken to recall the advertisements of Patanjali products whose licenses have been suspended. The bench has granted three weeks for the submission of the affidavit.
The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) had previously informed the Supreme Court that the manufacturing licenses of 14 products of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy have been "suspended with immediate effect."
The apex court is currently hearing a plea filed by the IMA in 2022, alleging that Patanjali conducted a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.