The
Supreme Court on Tuesday directed RV Asokan, President of the Indian Medical
Association (IMA), to issue apologies in major newspapers for his remarks
criticising the court.
The
Supreme Court bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta said that these
apologies must be made by Asokan personally, not as a representative of the
IMA, and that he must cover the costs himself.
"Apology
needs to be tendered by you and from your own pocket, not IMA," the top
court said.
The
counsel representing the IMA, PS Patwalia, informed the court that the
interview in question was provided to news agency PTI.
On
this, Justice Kohli said, "Besides the ones you are referring to, which
other publications was it [the interview] shared with? You have to send [the
apology] to all of them. You cannot just wash your hands off. No assumptions
here in your favour just because you say so. Your public apology has to be...
You are inviting trouble on yourself and we are not taking your apology."
The
apex court acknowledged Patwalia's plea to defer the contempt orders issued
against Asokan, providing him with a period to take necessary actions to
resolve the contempt issue.
The next hearing has been scheduled for September
2024.