"You Can't Vent Your Feelings In Press": Supreme Court Comes Down Heavily On Indian Medical Association In Patnajali Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (14 May) again pulled up the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for its president Dr R V Asokan's remarks against the court's ruling in the Patanjali Ayurved misleading ads case.

Urging for "self-restraint," the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah said, "We would have expected more sense of responsibility from you... you can't vent your feelings against the court in the press like this."

In an interview with the PTI, Asokan criticised the Supreme Court for asking IMA to "put its house in order" by acknowledging complaints of alleged unethical conduct by IMA doctors.

He said that these remarks are "unfortunate" and added, "It does not behoove the Supreme Court to take a broadside against the medical profession of the country."

On Asokan offering an unconditional apology, Justice Kohli asked, "Whether we should accept your statements after such damaging statements?" and said IMA claims Patanjali denigrated it but what about themselves?

The bench also expressed dissatisfaction over his affidavit and asked why he did not issue a public apology and that "Everything was written in black and white, why did you not make amends if you truly wanted to apologise?"

The court questioned his efforts to redeem himself after the interview and urged freedom of speech with self-restraint. It described Asokan's affidavit as "too little, too late".

"You cannot just sit on a couch and say anything about the court. What would you have done if other side made this kind of comments! You would have come running to this Court," the bench said.