Supreme Court miffed over "small, illegible" apology published by IMA President in newspapers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with the "minuscule" font size of the apology published by the President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in newspapers after the Court had asked him to apologise for giving interviews to the press criticising the top court [Indian Medical Association and anr vs Union of India and ors]..A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta termed the apologies published so far by the IMA President, Dr. RV Asokan, miniscule and illegible. "You just see the size of the publication ... We have said that we can't read it. It is less than 0.1 m, if you have any objection then tell us. We aren't able to read this," Justice Kohli said after examining digital copies of the apologies published by Dr. Asokan in newspapers. .The Court proceeded to order Asokan to produce physical copies of the apologies published by him, albeit after recording that the printed matter appeared to be illegible. "The excerpt of the apology filed before us is illegible in as much as the font is miniscule. Counsel for IMA President is directed to file physical copies of 20 publications of The Hindu where the publication of apology has been done. It has to be done in one week," the Court ordered. .The Court was hearing a case filed by the IMA against Patanjali Ayurved and its promoters, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, for publishing misleading advertisements targeting evidence-based medicine.IMA had accused Patanjali of running a smear campaign against modern medicine.However, the IMA itself later came under fire from the Court when its President made comments that were critical of the Court for asking allopathic doctors to put their own house in order and curb unethical practices in modern medicine.In comments made to the press, IMA President Dr. RV Asokan said that it was "unfortunate" that the Supreme Court criticised the IMA and that doctors were demoralised due to the same.The Court took strong exception to this statement and asked Asokan to publish public apologies in prominent newspapers including the ones to which he had given the controversial interview.Earlier, the Court was informed that the apology was published on the IMA's website. However, the Bench made it clear that the apology should be published in newspapers as well. .Today, IMA's counsel, Senior Advocate PS Patwalia presented a list of publications where the apology has been published. "He is ashamed (of) what has happened. He is apologetic for what has been committed," Patwalia added. "He is not doing any obligation to us," Justice Mehta retorted. After the Court directed that physical copies of the apologies be placed before it, Patwalia also urged the Bench to pass an order to settle the matter against the IMA President. "It will be passed next week by appropriate Bench. I am not there. If you comply properly, the Bench whichever would be there will pass appropriate orders," Justice Kohli replied. .On a related note, the Court recently closed the contempt of court proceedings against Patanjali's founders, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna after passing several strictures against them for broadcasting misleading ads and after they presented unconditional apologies for their conduct. Over time, the scope of the case has also expanded beyond just lapses by Patanjali to larger issues such as misleading advertisements by others, the liability of celebrity influencers who endorse misleading ads, unethical practices in modern medicine etc.On these aspects, the matter remains pending before the top court. .[Read live coverage]