New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Tuesday termed as “highly unacceptable” the statements made by Indian Medical Association (IMA) chief RV Ashokan in a recent interview with ‘PTI’, targeting the apex court. Ashokan had made these comments in the said interview while answering questions related to the issue of misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurveda. Expressing displeasure over the IMA chief’s comments a day before the hearing was scheduled on the subject, a bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ehsanuddin Amanullah sought his reply on the plea filed by Patanjali Ayurveda Limited.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing in the court on behalf of Patanjali, told the bench that he has filed an application requesting the court to take judicial cognizance of the “reckless and unwarranted comments” of the IMA chief. Rohatgi said, “This is a very serious issue. They are trying to divert the justice process… You asked one or two questions and saw how they were answering as if no one could ask them anything.”
Rohatgi said that in the last hearing, he had submitted the original text of the interview published in newspapers to the court. The bench told the IMA counsel, “You cannot say that you do not know.” Later during the hearing, when senior advocate P S Patwalia appeared for IMA, the bench asked him about Ashokan’s comments.
The bench asked, “Your (IMA) chief gave an interview on the eve of the hearing. Why on the eve of the hearing?” Patwalia said that he (IMA chief) had been called by the Press Trust of India (PTI) for an interview on many other issues. He said, “What happened next, I think this is the main question and he got entangled in it.” Justice Amanullah said in a sharp manner that how can this happen to a doctor.
In an interview with its editors on PTI’s program ‘@4 Parliament Street’ on April 29, Ashokan had said it was ‘unfortunate’ that the Supreme Court had criticized the IMA and some practices of private doctors. Ashokan had said that “vague and generalized statements” had demoralized private doctors. He had said, “We believe that they need to consider what material is before them. He probably did not consider that this is not the issue which is before him in the court.”
He had said, “You can say anything but still most of the doctors are conscientious…practice as per ethics and principles. It does not behoove the Supreme Court to criticize the medical profession of the country, which ultimately sacrificed the lives of many people during Covid.” During the hearing on Tuesday, the apex court said that the petitioner, the IMA chief, went to the press and gave a statement on a matter which is under consideration of the court.
The bench said, “You are one of those who come to the court and say that the other party has misled people through advertisements and by saying this you are undermining your medical system. What are you doing?” When Patwalia said that the IMA chief was actually ‘appreciating’ the apex court’s order, the bench said, “We do not want anyone to pat us on the back. We are just doing our job.”
Justice Amanullah said, “This is very unacceptable.” The bench told Patwalia that his reply had failed to convince the court. Patwalia said that the IMA chief regrets this and has realized that he should keep his mouth shut. The bench asked the IMA chief to respond to Patanjali Ayurveda’s application and scheduled the next hearing on the matter for May 14.
The top court is hearing a petition filed by the IMA in 2022, alleging that a campaign was launched to defame Covid vaccination and the modern medical system of allopathy.
Tags: baba ramdev, Patanjali, Supreme Court, tushar mehta
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 8, 2024, 22:47 IST