NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to accept the proposed clarification made by Baba Ramdev and other defendants in a petition filed by a number of doctors’ associations against the Patanjali owner and yoga guru for allegedly spreading misinformation about Covid-19 cure through his statements against allopathy and in favour of his company’s product Coronil.
Justice Anup J. Bhambhani observed that the clarification seemed “more like pat” on his own back.
The court was hearing the petition which has alleged that Ramdev was causing misrepresentation to the public by spreading misinformation saying that allopathy was responsible for Covid-19 deaths and prompting people to not get hospitalised.
Last month, Ramdev’s counsel informed the court that they were willing to offer clarifications that would address the issue and that a mutually agreed text of the clarifications would be drawn-up and presented before court.
The court said that if and when accepted, Ramdev will have to file an affidavit regarding the clarifications offered, followed by their publication in print, electronic and digital media in order to ensure requisite dissemination of the clarifications.
Senior Advocate PV Kapur appearing for Ramdev put forth the proposed clarification issued by Ramdev stating that the same was based on the notification issued by the Ayush Ministry. “I really don’t know why this is turning out to be a battle on the drug and for some reason, even a fair suggestion is not being accepted,” he said.