‘Don’t say that you were not given a chance…’, Uttarakhand AYUSH department reprimanded by SC in Patanjali case, fine of Rs 1 lakh also imposed

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded the Uttarakhand Licensing Authority during the hearing in the misleading advertisement case of Patanjali. The court raised questions on the inaction of the authority regarding misleading advertisements and said that now you have woken up from your sleep.

When the hearing on Patanjali case started in the court, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued on behalf of Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna that we had given the apology in the newspapers. It has been deposited in the court registry. After this, Mukul Rohatgi showed the apology letter published in the newspapers.

On this the Supreme Court asked why did you not give the original records? Why did you do e-filing? There is a lot of confusion in this. We are raising our hands. We had asked for the original copy, where is it?

On this, Ramdev’s lawyer Balbir Singh said that this may have happened due to my ignorance. The court said that, however, the apology letter you published last time was short and only Patanjali was written in it. But this time the apology is big. We appreciate that you finally understood our point. You just submit the newspaper and the apology letter dated that day.

‘You finally woke up from your sleep’

Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority told the court that 14 manufacturing licenses of Patanjali and its unit Divya Pharmacy were canceled with immediate effect on April 15. On this the court said that now you have woken up from sleep.

The court said that this shows that when you want to do something, you do it with full speed. But when you don’t want to do it, it takes years. You took action in three days. But what were you doing for the last nine months? Now you have woken up from sleep.

Fine imposed on license authority of Uttarakhand AYUSH department

The Supreme Court has imposed a fine on the licensing authority of Uttarakhand AYUSH Department. The court asked, for how long have you suspended the production of 14 medicines of Patanjali Pharmacy? On this, the AYUSH department said that they will have to file an appeal with the concerned department within three months.

On this the court said that you should have done all this earlier. The court asked Joint Director Mithilesh Kumar, what action have you taken in the last nine months? File its affidavit. If we go by the previous affidavit, you have not taken any action. Don’t say later that you were not given a chance. After this the court strongly reprimanded Mithilesh Kumar.

The court asked, tell us about the previous cases and actions taken during the tenure of the officer before Mithilesh Kumar?

After this the court reprimanded the licensing authority. The court said that it seems that they are only working like a post office.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the affidavit of the Drug Licensing Authority, the court said that such a lax attitude is not appropriate at all. You should keep many things in mind while filing the affidavit. The court said that we accept your affidavit and impose a fine of one lakh rupees. However, while returning the affidavit, the court said that you should correct your affidavit and present it in the court in five minutes.

Ramdev gets exemption from personal appearance on May 14

At the same time, during the next hearing of the court, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Chief also had to face sharp questions from the court on his statement.

Mukul Rohatgi informed the court about the statement of IMA President. On this the court said that his statement should be brought on record. This is a very serious matter. Get ready to face its consequences.

Let us tell you that IMA President Dr. Ashokan had said in a statement that it is very unfortunate that the Supreme Court has criticized the practice of IMA and private doctors. He had said that vague statements have lowered the morale of private doctors. We feel that he should have seen what information was placed before him. Perhaps he did not even notice that this was not the case that was placed before him in the court.

The hearing in this case will now be held in the Supreme Court on May 14. Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna have been exempted from appearing personally in the next hearing.