Misleading Ads Case: IMA President's Apology Falls Short, Supreme Court Voices Discontent
In April, Asokan had remarked that it was 'unfortunate' that the top court was criticising the IMA, as well as some of the practices of private doctors.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction at the apology tendered by the Indian Medical Association's president, Dr. RV Asokan, for his remarks made against the court in the misleading ads case.
In April, Asokan, in an interview with PTI, had remarked that it was "unfortunate" that the top court was criticising the IMA, as well as some of the practices of private doctors.
His comments came after the court had called out the IMA, saying that the association should put its house in order because there have been several complaints against it for unethical practices.
This apex court took a strong exception to his comments and directed him to issue a public apology. As per the court's direction, Asokan, in an interview with PTI in July, apologised for his remarks. The top court was informed that his unconditional apology was published in the association's monthly publication, on the IMA's website, and also by PTI.
In the hearing on Tuesday, the court said that Asokan cannot absolve himself by simply publishing his apology in PTI. "You will have to publish the apology in all those newspapers in which that interview was published," the court said while referring to his interview from April.
Asokan was inviting more trouble for himself by not getting the apology published in all those newspapers that carried the April interview, the court said.
Asokan's apology should be published appropriately so as to purge himself of his contemptuous remarks, it said. It ordered him to pay for the publication with his own funds.
The court will reconsider Asokan's apology on the next date of hearing in September.
ALSO READ
Patanjali Misleading Ads Case: Supreme Court Rebukes IMA President, Refuses To Accept Apology
The case began in November last year, when the apex court issued a stern warning to Ramdev and his multinational conglomerate for downplaying the effects of modern medicine.
Some of Patanjali's commercials claimed its medicines could cure a number of illnesses, while simultaneously disparaging modern medicine.
The court had said that it would issue a hefty penalty for all those misleading advertisements that promise to cure diseases such as asthma, obesity, and the like.
At the time, Patanjali told the court that it would make sure that going forward, no casual statements claiming medicinal efficacy against any system of medicine would be released to the media in any form.
However, a day after the court's stern remarks, Patanjali came out with a media statement saying that it was not making any "false advertisements or propaganda" regarding its products and that it would not object if the top court were to impose a fine or "even give us a death sentence" if found making misleading claims.
This prompted the apex court to come down on Baba Ramdev and his conglomerate with all guns blazing for openly flouting court orders.
The entire fiasco has also led the court to reprimand the Union government and various other authorities for their inaction on the wider issue of misleading advertisements for drugs and medicines.
