Ramdev to HC: Will not post against Rooh Afza
The development comes a day after Ramdev assured the HC that he would remove all offending portions of a new video targeting Rooh Afza when the court warned of initiating contempt action.
Yoga exponent and entrepreneur Ramdev on Friday filed an affidavit in the Delhi high court, assuring the court that he will not make any disparaging statements, social media posts or videos against pharmaceutical and food company Hamdard’s popular drink Rooh Afza.
The development comes a day after Ramdev assured the HC that he would remove all offending portions of a new video targeting Rooh Afza when the court warned of initiating contempt action. Justice Amit Bansal, who ordered the removal of the controversial content on Thursday, directed Ramdev’s counsel to file an affidavit during the day.
“Senior advocate Rajiv Nayyar (representing Patanjali) submits that the defendants are willing to file an undertaking in terms of paragraph 18 of the order dated April 22. Copy of the affidavit has been given to the counsel for the plaintiff. Let the same be filed during the course of the day,” Justice Bansal said on Friday.
The court gave the order while hearing a lawsuit filed by Hamdard claiming trademark infringement, disparagement, and defamation. The court, on April 22, had slammed Ramdev for his “sharbat jihad” comment against Rooh Afza, saying the remark was “indefensible” and “shocked the conscience” of the court.
Following the court’s reprimand, Ramdev had assured he would immediately take down videos and social media posts related to his disparaging comment. He was directed to file an affidavit within five days undertaking not to issue similar statements, social media posts or disparaging advertisements regarding competitors’ products.
Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing Hamdard, on Thursday informed the court that instead of complying with its April 22 directive, Ramdev had uploaded another video claiming that profits earned by Hamdard were being diverted for building “madrasas, masjids” while asserting that “their trust is in Mughal’s Aurangzeb while Patanjali’s trust is in Lord Ram”.
A day later, Sethi said that despite giving an assurance, Ramdev had not taken down the video and only made it private on YouTube. He further submitted that the video was also available on the “Astha” YouTube channel.
Following the counsel’s submission, Justice Bansal directed Ramdev to file an affidavit giving the undertaking. Patanjali’s counsel agreed to the court’s suggestion and requested that the suit be closed on his undertaking.
“If the video will be taken down and in light of the affidavit…. We can take it after some days,” the bench said as it posted the matter for May 9.
