As the controversy fueled over yoga guru Ramdev Baba's defamatory remarks over allopathy doesn't seem to settle yet, the Delhi High Court today sent a notice to the Patanjali founder after the Delhi Medical Association filed a lawsuit. However, the court rejected the request by the DMA to "restrain Ramdev from directly or indirectly publishing (or making) offending material". The court also said the doctors body to file a petition instead of the lawsuit which had sought a token damage of Re 1 over the statement and unconditional apology.
As per a NDTV report, thecourt charged at the DMA and said, "You people should be spending time on finding (the) cure for the pandemic instead of wasting (the) court's time." But the DMA too stood strong on its side and responded with strong objections. It said, "Ramdev's remarks are affecting members of the DMA. He is calling doctors names. He is saying this science (allopathy) is fake. Ramdev is falsely representing Coronil as a cure for Covid with zero per cent death rate. Even the government has asked him not to advertise it. In the meantime, he has sold ₹ 250 crore worth of Coronil.
Rverting back, the court said, "Tomorrow, I may feel homeopathy is fake. It's an opinion. How can a suit be filed against it? Even if we assume what he is saying is wrong or misleading, a suit under public interest can't be filed like this. This has to be a public interest litigation (PIL)."
"If Patanjali is violating (rules), it's for the government to act. Why are you carrying the torch. This is public interest litigation, masquerading as a suit. You better file a PIL saying that he called it a cure and then changed it to immunity booster, and in the meantime, millions bought it."
Further it also questioned DMA for not submitting the video clips of Ramdev's speeches, and instead relying on web links.
"Ramdev doesn't have faith in allopathy. He believes everything can be cured by Yoga and Ayurveda. He may be right or wrong but this court can't say Coronil is a cure or not. It has to be done by medical experts. Though his words like 'stupid science' may be temperate but that can't be a cause for a suit," the High Court underlined.
Stating an example, the court asked, "Let's say 10,000 people bought Coronil and 9,500 died. You go to media and say that Coronil has killed 95 per cent. In that case Ramdev will file a suit against you? Allopathy has worked for some and not for some. It's a view."
"We will issue a notice but can't give a restraint order. I have a doubt whether you can maintain this case," the High Court bench further said.
For the uninitiated, last month, in a video that was widely shared on social media, Ramdev was heard saying at an event: "Lakhs of people have died because of allopathic medicines, far more than those who died because they did not get treatment or oxygen." He also purportedly called allopathy a "stupid and bankrupt" science.
