The Supreme Court on Wednesday snubbed the apologies by Yoga Guru Ramdev Baba and the managing director of Patanjali Ayurved Acharya Balkrishna.

Indian Medical Association in 2023 filed a case against Patanjali for showing allopathy and the doctors in bad light through their advertisements. The allegation was that the advertisements to market the Patanjali products, portrayed lies. During the Covid, the advertisement of ‘Coronil pills’ which claimed to offer a treatment against the virus highlighted that the allopathy cannot be relied on at this time but Patanjali Ayurved can provide a ‘cure’.

The apex court in November 2023 issued an undertaking to Patanjali warning them to refrain from publicizing such misleading advertisements under the violation of the (Objectionable Advertisement) Act of 1954. However, the company turned a blind eye and therefore was summoned by the court in February 2024.

On Wednesday, the bench consisting of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, said that the court is not at all persuaded by what it sees as lip service or insincere apologies by Pantanjali players in the case. Hima Kohli further regarded Patanjali’s ignorance to the court’s undertaking as ‘absolute defiance’ from Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.

The Court was also irked by the State Licensing Authority of Uttarakhand for its failure in addressing the issues regarding Patanjali’s misleading advertisements. It held the authority as ‘equally involved’ in the case as it did not take any legal action against the company and continued to let it market its products through misleading advertisements which violated the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act of 1954.