Supreme Court rejects Ramdev’s apologies for misleading ads

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accept the affidavits of yoga guru Ramdev and his close aide Balkrishna of Patanjali Ayurved tendering unconditional apologies for publishing “misleading” advertisements, asserting the court doesn’t want to be “so generous” as they were issued after the duo was caught with their “back against the wall”.

The apex court also came down hard on the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority for its inaction on the issue and said it is not going to take it lightly as the authority appeared to have kept its “eyes shut deliberately”. “We will rip you apart,” a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah told the counsel representing the authority in an unusually stern reprimand.

The top court observed that after the notices to show cause were issued to Ramdev and Balkrishna, they “attempted to wriggle out” of their personal appearance before the court which is “most unacceptable”. “Having regard to the entire history of the matter and the past conduct of the contemnors…, we have expressed our reservations about accepting the latest affidavit filed by them,” the bench said while dictating the order in the courtroom.