SC asks two states to give status of cases on Patanjali's Ramdev
Cases were filed by the Bihar and Chhattisgarh units of IMA in response to a viral video where Ramdev advised his followers not to rely on allopathy.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked Bihar and Chhattisgarh to share the status of criminal cases pending against yoga guru and entrepreneur Ramdev over his alleged derogatory remarks about modern medicine during the Covid pandemic three years ago.
The cases were filed by the by the Bihar and Chhattisgarh state units of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in response to a video that circulated on social media where Ramdev advised his followers not to rely on allopathy -- as modern medicine is often referred to in India -- for treating Covid-19. This statement was made in May 2021.
Ramdev’s petition sought a direction to club the two first information reports (FIR) and hold the trial in Delhi. The two complaints against him were filed by the Bihar and Chhattisgarh state units of IMA.
“These cases are of 2021. Charge sheet would have been filed by now. If this prayer (for clubbing) has to be considered, we need to know what the status of these cases is,” a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale.
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A larger case against Ramdev, filed by the national chapter of IMA, is going on in court, and Ramdev and Patanjali managing director Balakrishna have been facing the ire of a bench of justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah over misleading advertisements that they published in leading newspapers in December 2023 and January this year.
In an earlier case, theIMA served him a defamation notice of ₹1000 crore and demanded an apology. Later, Ramdev wrote a letter to the then Union health minister stating that he meant no ill-will as he had great regard for doctors.
The court on Friday also allowed Ramdev to implead the complainants who have lodged cases against him, meaning that IMA state units will now get a say before any decision is taken on Ramdev’s plea for clubbing or quashing the cases.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which filed complaints in 2021 alleging that Ramdev’s remarks were likely to cause prejudice to Covid control mechanisms and may dissuade people from availing proper treatment, will need to be heard despite objections from the solicitor general.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale was hearing Ramdev’s plea seeking a stay on criminal proceedings. The court granted Ramdev liberty to implead the complainants and posted the matter for hearing after the summer vacations, which start on May 20 and end in July.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Ramdev, told the court that he will add the complainants in the two FIRs and objected to a short affidavit filed by IMA opposing the petition.
Although the IMA’s central body was represented in court, the bench directed the two state IMA units to be added as a party to know their response on the petition. The court directed the Bihar and Chhattisgarh governments to file the status of the two FIRs in two weeks and posted the matter for hearing after the summer break.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, said, “We can’t have strangers to a proceeding to be given a say. The petition for clubbing is between the complainant and the accused. We have serious objection to IMA as they are opposed to Ayurveda.”
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Advocate Prabhas Bajaj, appearing for IMA, informed the bench that IMA is appearing in this case as it has been named as a party in the petition and notice was issued to it by the top court on October 9, 2023.
In its affidavit, IMA said, “The petitioner (Ramdev) has shown complete disdain of the rule of law...and does not deserve any indulgence by this court in exercise of its extraordinary and equitable jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The present writ petition deserves to be rejected on this ground alone.”
Ramdev withdrew his statements after receiving a letter from then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who called his remarks “inappropriate”.
Senior advocate Dave, appearing for Ramdev, said, “The yoga guru had made a statement in 2021 that he does not believe in allopathic medicines to which some doctors took offence and lodged multiple cases against him.”
