Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali Ayurved and an aide of Yoga guru Ramdev, has apologised to the Supreme Court for the company’s misleading claims about its products and their medicinal efficacy.

This comes days after the court came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for not responding to a contempt notice over misleading advertisements. The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah had also summoned Balkrishna and Ramdev.

In an affidavit filed in the court, Mr Balkrishna has said he has the highest regards for the rule of law. Extending an “unqualified apology”, he said the company will “ensure that such advertisements are not issued in the future”.

Mr Balkrishna clarified that the company’s “intention is only to exhort the citizens of this country to lead a healthier life by consuming products” of Patanjali, including those “for lifestyle ailments through the use age old literature and materials supplementing and backed by ayurvedic research”.

He also said that provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, which prohibits advertisements of magic cure claims, is “archaic” and the last changes in the legislation were made when “scientific evidence in Ayurveda research were lacking”. Patanjali, the affidavit said, now has “evidence-based scientific data with clinical research

conducted in Ayurveda, which would demonstrate the advances made through scientific research in the context of diseases mentioned in the said schedule”.

“In light of the same it is humbly submitted that the Deponent’s only quest is for a better and healthier life for each and every citizen and to reduce

the burden on the countries healthcare infrastructure by providing holistic, evidence based solutions for lifestyle related medical complications through the usage of age old traditional approach of Ayurveda and Yoga,” it added.

The United States recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and strongly opposes any attempts made to advance territorial claims across the Line of Actual Control, an official spokesperson has said, days after the Chinese military reiterated its claim over the state following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit there.

Earlier this week, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that the southern part of Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet) is an inherent part of China’s territory, and Beijing “never acknowledges and firmly opposes” the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India”.

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the state to highlight its claims. Beijing has also named the area Zangnan.

On March 9, Prime Minister Modi dedicated to the nation the Sela Tunnel built at an altitude of 13,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh that will provide all-weather connectivity to strategically located Tawang and is expected to ensure better movement of troops along the frontier region.

Speaking at his daily press conference on Wednesday, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “The United States recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control.” 

India has repeatedly rejected China’s territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country. New Delhi has also dismissed Beijing’s move to assign “invented” names to the area, saying it did not alter the reality.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said it has noted the latest comments made by the spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry “advancing absurd claims” over the territory of Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that the state “was, is and will always be” an integral and inalienable part of India.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The US government recognizes Arunachal Pradesh as part of India’s territory and “strongly” condemns any “incursion or encroachments” along the Line of Actual Control, the US State Department said on Wednesday. It comes only days after the Chinese military referred to Arunachal Pradesh as a “inherent part of China’s territory”.