Baba Ramdev's bigger sorry! Patanjali's apology ad larger than before after Supreme Court criticism

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his associate Balkrishna issued a renewed apology in major newspapers on Wednesday for the misleading advertisements of Patanjali's medicinal products. This time, the apology was more prominent, following criticism from the Supreme Court for not adequately displaying it earlier.

In the advertisement, Ramdev and Balkrishna expressed their sincere apologies, both individually and on behalf of Patanjali, for failing to comply with the directives of the Supreme Court of India.

Patanjali had also issued an apology yesterday, but the Supreme Court questioned whether its size matched the misleading advertisements for its drugs.


“We unconditionally extend the apology for holding meeting/press conference dated 22.11.2023. We earnestly apologize for the mistake made in publishing our advertisements and it is our whole-hearted commitment that such errors will not be repeated,” Patanjali wrote in the ad.

The advertisement, titled Unconditional Public Apology, was published this morning and it occupies a large space of newspaper page.

"In wake of ongoing matter before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India (Writ Petition C. No. 645/2022), we in our individual capacity as well as on behalf of the Company, unconditionally apologise for the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/ orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India," it read.

The advertisement published yesterday was of a smaller size and did not explicitly mention the names of Ramdev and Balkrishna.

On April 23, the Supreme Court bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah had asked Patanjali if their apology ad was prominently published. "Has the apology been published prominently? Same font and size as your earlier advertisements?" Justice Kohli asked.

The Supreme Court while issuing orders in the contempt case against Patanjali Ayurved on Monday turned its glare on the practices of the Indian Medical Association, misleading advertisements published by other consumer companies.

During the Covid years, Patanjali introduced Coronil in 2021, with Ramdev hailing it as the "first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19". Patanjali had claimed its Coronil medicine received certification from Ayush Ministry as per WHO’s certification scheme. However, the Indian Medical Association was 'shocked and denounced this as a "blatant lie".

Tensions between the medical community and Patanjali heightened when a video surfaced of Ramdev criticising allopathy as a "stupid and bankrupt science". The IMA issued a legal notice to Ramdev, demanding an apology. In response, Patanjali Yogpeeth stated that Ramdev was merely reading from a forwarded WhatsApp message and harbors no animosity toward modern science.