In a recent segment of ""Editorial,"" Mr. Sujit Nair discusses the Supreme Court of India's recent comments regarding Patanjali Ayurved. The Court criticized Patanjali for its lackadaisical apology affidavit submitted in response to its misleading advertisements promoting ayurvedic products while disparaging modern medicine. Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah expressed displeasure over Patanjali's claim that its media wing was unaware of the Court's order to cease airing such advertisements. This assertion was made in an apology affidavit by Patanjali's Managing Director, Acharya Balkrishna. "If this is indefensible, then your apology will not work. This is a gross violation of the undertaking given to the top court. You have to ensure that your undertaking which is solemn should have been adhered to. We can say that we do not wish to accept that the media department does not know about what is happening in this court and it is an island. This is more of a lip service! ... You violated the solemn undertaking with impunity. We are not willing to accept this and this is perfunctory! What is the reason to accept your apology?"" Justice Kohli remarked.
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[00:00:02] Hello and welcome to HW Editorial with me Sujit Nair.
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[00:00:41] Namaskar. Welcome to another episode of Editorial.
[00:00:46] Absolute humbug, perjury, defiance.
[00:00:52] These were the words used by the Supreme Court when they were hearing Patanjali.
[00:00:59] Patanjali was slammed by Supreme Court.
[00:01:04] I am going to talk to you about Patanjali and the Supreme Court case against Patanjali and why Supreme Court was so livid with Patanjali.
[00:01:12] I also want to take this occasion to say that this is the situation in India currently.
[00:01:18] So, this case while it is of Patanjali and while we will view it from a Patanjali point of view,
[00:01:24] this case and this attitude is larger in this country.
[00:01:29] That's my topic tonight. Let's get right into the show.
[00:01:34] So, Patanjali like I had done in Editorial before, Patanjali has been absolutely breaching every rule in the book.
[00:01:42] You see as advertisers, 30 years in advertising, there is one thing we learn in advertising is to put facts across.
[00:01:53] A decent product, a decent brand and a decent advertising agency will never put up something which cheats its audience.
[00:02:02] We never put up things that cheat our audience.
[00:02:05] We take extra care to not claim anything in an ad which is false.
[00:02:13] So, all this talk about dream merchants and the fact that advertise karta hai, the fact that advertising agency gimmick and all that.
[00:02:20] All that really doesn't happen.
[00:02:22] A good advertising agency and a good brand normally ensures that they don't talk anything which is false.
[00:02:31] But Patanjali, what is Patanjali? Patanjali rules.
[00:02:38] Does rule actually apply to Baba Ramdev? He thinks no. So he does what he wants.
[00:02:49] He would release ads with talks which puts down alopati.
[00:02:55] He would release ads which were technically falsifying statements.
[00:03:02] He would put ads which were wrong, which were misguiding. He would put ads.
[00:03:08] The court told him don't but Patanjali would listen.
[00:03:14] Now what happened today? A bench of Justice Himakoli and Asaduddin Amanadullah, the bench was very limited.
[00:03:24] They were very limited with Patanjali and they said if this is indefensible then your apology will not work.
[00:03:32] This is gross violation of undertaking given to the top court.
[00:03:36] You have to ensure your undertaking which is a solemn should have been adhered to.
[00:03:43] We can say that we do not wish to accept the media department does not know what is happening in this court.
[00:03:49] And it is an island. This is more of lip service.
[00:03:54] You violated the solemn undertaking with impunity. We are not willing to accept this and this is perfunctory.
[00:04:02] What is the reason to accept your apology? Justice Kohli remarked.
[00:04:06] This is humbug. You say if the court feels etc. we cannot look into your heart.
[00:04:12] This is not how contempt cases dealt with. In some matters, some cases have to be taken to the logical end.
[00:04:20] There cannot be any magnanimity. You said documents have been attached but the documents you created later on this is a clear case of perjury.
[00:04:30] We are not closing the doors on you but we are telling you that we have noted. This is what the court said.
[00:04:36] Like I said the court was livid.
[00:04:40] Now there are two or three things we need to understand. The first point I made is while this all happened to Patanjali, we should look at it from a border perspective.
[00:04:51] And you know what the border perspective is? The border perspective is somewhere down the line our country has created a narrative.
[00:05:01] Our country has created or have started using religion. Religion for everything. Religion when it is used as a moral compass.
[00:05:15] Religion when it is used as a way of life it is beautiful.
[00:05:20] But when you start using religion for politics, when you start using religion for vote, when you start using religion to sell marketing products,
[00:05:28] when you start using religion to sell films then that religion which is meant for morality and to guide a way of life takes a different turn.
[00:05:42] Baba Ramdev used religion in a way to sell his product.
[00:05:48] Ayurveda is good because old sage said it, Hinduism said it. Other products, Halopathy products and all chemicals bad.
[00:05:56] What? How was he or his people qualified to make such assumption?
[00:06:05] And how did we as people even accept it?
[00:06:09] Halopathy is bad. Ayurveda is magic. Ayurveda can cure everything.
[00:06:14] There was a product called Coronel which claimed to cure Covid. What happened?
[00:06:19] Interestingly our government also kept quiet and the court also mentioned it.
[00:06:25] The court said we have questioned Ayush. You issued notice to Patanjali and they failed to reply and reply is not before us.
[00:06:34] And we are wondering why Covid was in 2022 and you yourself stated that these were the best supplements to the main medicine.
[00:06:42] This is not publicized at all. Nothing could move without central go ahead during Covid and you did nothing to make this known.
[00:06:51] It was a critical period.
[00:06:53] Covid got the medicine and you said that this is the best supplement.
[00:06:57] What are you talking about? Why the central government kept quiet? Why? They were using Ayurveda. They were using Hinduism.
[00:07:04] How could anybody say anything? The court asked why did you shut up? Why didn't you say anything?
[00:07:08] It was so important. Now are you getting it? Now you understand when I say it's a larger picture? You have to see it from a larger spectrum?
[00:07:18] You can't, you are not creative. You can make films. Your films don't do well. So create a film which is controversial,
[00:07:25] which is to do with Hinduism, which is to do with certain ideology and you try to put that film up and make this into a nationalist film.
[00:07:33] Works. Or at least they think it works. Normally it doesn't by the looks of it.
[00:07:37] People are little more intelligent than that. You are marketing a toothpaste. Say it is directly from Hinduism, directly from Ayurveda.
[00:07:46] All Hinduism inside the toothpaste sell. Works. Tomorrow you want to sell a shirt you will sell as Hinduism shirt and it will sell.
[00:07:58] So I guess it has started now becoming a culture that whatever you want to sell, whatever you want to put it up in the audience,
[00:08:06] use the word Hinduism or use the concept of Hinduism around it, market it that way and sell. People will buy it. At least that is what the assumption is.
[00:08:16] And you know what happens next? The next is about the people who do it. Baba Ramdev.
[00:08:23] At times and which is happening quite often in this country, people become bigger than law, bigger than the country, bigger than everything that we hold holy, bigger than the constitution.
[00:08:36] We have done it. So there is. And why and how would Patanjali dare to go against the Supreme Court?
[00:08:50] How would they dare go against the Supreme Court? They are saying that we didn't know, our BDI department didn't know.
[00:08:56] How could they dare go against the Supreme Court? This is the same Patanjali when we had reported something about Patanjali.
[00:09:00] They had said, does a legal notice crush, crush anybody who talks against you, crush dissent. Isn't that something which is very common nowadays?
[00:09:12] So Patanjali pre-dominantly or this case pre-dominantly or what the court said pre-dominantly or what's happening around represents India.
[00:09:22] This is what's happening in India. I have a product. I want to push it in the market. I use religion and I push that in the market.
[00:09:28] Who dares question me? I say I can cure COVID. I say I'm the best supplement of COVID. Even the government keeps quiet. Who questions me?
[00:09:41] I am the Supreme because I manifest a religion. I wear certain kind of clothes. So I'm Supreme. Who questions me? Who questions me?
[00:09:53] And unfortunately, religion that again I repeat which is supposed to be used for morality, which is supposed to be used to define our way of life except for the defining part and except for morality it is doing everything else.
[00:10:10] Morality is not defined as like I said and I say every day we saw that in electoral bonds where our morality and everything stands, where our honesty and no corruption and khanedunga and akhanedunga and all that.
[00:10:20] Where it stands we saw except for that everything, everything is religion. And the more we are going to see this believe me more Patanjali's will come up and you know what is the sad part?
[00:10:36] The sad part is we are supposed to be a global player.
[00:10:40] The sad part is we should be giving alternatives to Hindustan liver, Unilever worldwide. We should be giving a better product than close up which should be an indigenous product or a coal gate or a pez or a ponds or a dove tomorrow.
[00:10:56] That's what India should be looking at making some brilliant products that the whole world would want to buy from us.
[00:11:04] That's what we should be looking at and the moment you have these kind of products that represents India and that use India and Hinduism and all of that and put up in the world market we will not only be shot down we will be looked down on.
[00:11:19] And people, brands which are genuinely trying to do good work, genuinely trying to create good products they will not get a chance. Who will trust us? Who will trust Indian products?
[00:11:30] Look at the disservice it is doing to India. While the court is talking about contempt and how they have not adhered to what the court said, I am asking you look at the loss it is creating.
[00:11:44] Look at the damages it is doing and this Patanjali kind of brands and this Baba Ramdev kind of person people are doing for this country.
[00:11:51] Look at the damage it is doing in a larger level. Look at the damage it is doing to possibly MSMEs who are trying their best to create beautiful products and trying to market, trying to create products that are possibly better than big MNCs and trying to market in the globe.
[00:12:09] Such, such impediments these kind of brands are causing A our brand image and B our businesses.
[00:12:18] That's the point I wanted to make short editorial but this is important. Till I see you next time that's tomorrow at 10 PM. Namaskar.
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