New Delhi:

Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balakrishna today appeared in the Supreme Court over Patanjali Ayurved’s “misleading advertisements”.

The Supreme Court came down heavily on Ramdev and Balakrishna for failing to obey its directives. “Be ready for action,” the Supreme Court told Ramdev.

The top court during the last hearing had directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to be personally present before the court today.

After the hearing, an unconditional apology was submitted to the court, stating that Patanjali’s intention was only to exhort the citizens of this country to lead a healthier life by using its products.

On February 27, the top court had directed the company to stop all electronic and print advertisements of its medicines giving misleading” information with immediate effect.

It had also pulled up the Centre for not taking action and said they were sitting with their eyes closed. “This is very unfortunate. The government will have to take some immediate action,” the bench had said.

The case began in November last year when the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), cautioned Patanjali Ayurved against making “false” and “misleading” claims in advertisements about its medicines.

IMA had referred to several advertisements which allegedly projected the allopathy and the doctors in poor light, saying that “disparaging” statements have also been made by firms, engaged in the production of ayurvedic medicines, to mislead the general public.

These commercials say that the medical practitioners themselves are dying despite taking modern medicines, the counsel for the IMA had said.