The Supreme Court on Tuesday took a stern view of the comments made by Indian Medical Association (IMA) president R V Asokan, allegedly questioning the court in connection with the proceedings in a petition filed by the private body against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, and said it was not inclined to accept the apology tendered by him as of now.
“We are not accepting your affidavit as it stands,” Justice Hima Kohli, presiding over a two-judge bench, told Asokan.
The bench also comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah had taken umbrage to Asokan’s comments in an interview to news agency PTI wherein he questioned the court’s direction to IMA to disclose what action it had taken against members who allegedly endorsed medicines to patients for valuable considerations.
Asokan filed an affidavit tendering unconditional apology, but the bench, which perused the same on Tuesday, said it was not satisfied.
“We have seen your affidavit. With 45 years of experience in your profession and obviously you have leadership roles, you have come as president of IMA, we would have expected more sense of responsibility from you while giving the interview,” Justice Kohli told Asokan, who was present before the court.
“What made you choose those words…how could you do that?” said Justice Khan.
Asokan said “I unconditionally apologise”.
The court said: “You are the one who dragged the other side to court for valid reasons… saying they are taking the whole world for a ride… they are denigrating you and then when you are put to test… you do exactly the same thing they did… How can we accept that it (apology) is heartfelt and that what you did was inadvertent?”
Justice Kohli said, “You are aware of the fact that we took whatever you said seriously enough to call the other side and make them explain and their apologies did not impress us, not once, not twice, more than three times… You can’t sit on a couch, giving an interview and lampooning the court.” “It’s a sub-judice matter in which you are a party.”
The judge told Asokan that his counsel “could have told what he wanted to this court – to expunge it, to dilute it… but for you to go to the press on that! With your experience, that is not impressing us. We are not at all happy with your affidavit. This conduct is not something we can condone so easily.”
Praise for Ramdev
After being at the receiving end of criticism from the SC in the IMA petition, yoga guru Ramdev received some praise on Tuesday with the two-judge bench saying “he has a lot of astha” and that the court recognises his efforts to “internationalise yoga”.
Justice Amanullah told Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi who represented Ramdev and Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna, “On a lighter vein, there should be camaraderie between the two of you (IMA and Patanjali). If I am not wrong, your client had to go to AIIMS when he had a heart attack a few years back.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Centre in the matter, was quick to intervene. “Many allopathy doctors also go to take ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda is a recognised branch of medicine. Ayurveda, Sidha, Unani, Homeopathy…these are all recognised,” he said.
“Absolutely”, said the bench.
“And we think that the public is really cognizant. It is not as if they don’t know… They make their balanced choices also,” said Justice Kohli.
Justice Amanullah said, “Here the only concern was that the public should be well informed.”
“Baba Ramdev has a lot of astha. Use it in a positive way,” the judge said.
First uploaded on: 14-05-2024 at 16:34 IST
