Baba Ramdev summoned by Delhi HC over DMA's plea seeking restrain on Coronil cure claims

Pulling up Patanjali founder Ramdev Baba over his claims on 'Coronil', Delhi High Court on Thursday, issued summons to him, based on a suit seeking to restrain against his claims. The plea filed by Delhi medical association (DMA) alleged that Ramdev does not believe in allopathy and hence was making false claims of curing COVID-19 via 'Coronil'. The court issued notice to Ramdev and advised him from making such claims, adjourning the matter to July 13.

Delhi HC summons Baba Ramdev over Coronil claims

While the court has maintained that Ramdev has a right to voice opinions on Allopathy, it refused to grant Ramdev interim relief. DMA has argued that Ramdev was a powerful man with hoards of followers, lamenting that inspite of many complaints, Ramdev remained confident of 'facing no arrest'. Indian Medical Association (IMA) has already sought action against Ramdev for claiming 'Allopathy is a stupid science'.

Previously, the IMA lodged a complaint against Ramdev for his false remarks on modern science after a video emerged with Ramdev claiming that 'even their fathers couldn't arrest me' (coarsely, in Hindi). This was in reference to the growing call on social media and among doctor associations seeking Baba Ramdev's arrest for allegedly 'spreading misinformation amid a pandemic'. IMA Uttarakhand has also demanded Ramdev to issue a video countering his claims and tender a written apology within the next 15 days or face a Rs 1000 crore defamation notice. Several doctors staged a protest outside a Delhi hospital demanding action against Ramdev for defaming modern science.

What did Baba Ramdev say about allopathy?

On Saturday, while addressing an event, Ramdev allegedly said 'allopathy ek aisi stupid aur dilwaliya science hai' ('Allopathy is a stupid & ... science'). In a press release, IMA claimed that Baba Ramdev had called doctors 'murderers' in front of the Health Minister in the pretext of the 'release of his wonder drugs' and accused the yoga guru of misleading the public by making baseless accusations to sell his 'unapproved & illegal drugs'. Demanding an apology and action against Ramdev, IMA said that doctors, who were saving lives every day, were being insulted.

In response, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali claimed that the yoga guru was reading out a WhatsApp forward message received by him & others participating in the private event. It added that Baba Ramdev believed allopathy as a 'progressive science' and that the combination of allopathy, Ayurveda, and yoga would be beneficial for all amid the battle against COVID and bore no ill-will against modern science & its practitioners. After Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan wrote a letter to Ramdev urging him to take back his comments, Ramdev responded by withdrawing his comments saying, "If someone's feeling has been hurt because of that, I regret it". Amid this controversy, the Haryana govt has announced it will 1 lakh Coronil kits to patients.