NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued summons to yoga guru Baba Ramdev in a case filed by doctors’ association against him for allegedly spreading misinformation against allopathy during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
Justice C Harishankar granted four weeks’ time to Baba Ramdev and others including Acharya Balkrishna, Patanjali Ayurveda, to file their statements. The court clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits or the relief sought in the petition. “There is definitely a case for the institution of the suit. But it’s not such a frivolous case that suit may not be instituted,” the court further added.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Justice Hari Shankar told Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, who was representing Baba Ramdev that the videos of his client showed that he was scoffing at the allopathic treatments.
On Monday, the court had said that while Ramdev promoted and made a profit from the immunity booster Coronil, it is not a public nuisance nor a wrongful act. The court said that prima facie, the petition filed against Ramdev for allegedly spreading misinformation deserves consideration and couldn’t be “thrown out” at the first stage.
Senior advocate Akhil Sibal who represented the doctors’ body stated that despite the centre saying that he couldn’t make statements that he had a license of Coronil as a treatment for Covid-19, he continued to give an assurance that the tablets did provide a cure.