Delhi High Court issues summons to Ramdev in suit by doctors over misinformation against allopathy

The Delhi High Court issued summons to Ramdev on a lawsuit by several doctors associations for allegedly spreading misinformation against allopathy amid the Covid19 pandemic saying that the plea was not frivolous and a case for its institution was definitely made outJustice C Hari Shankar granted four weeks to Ramdev to file his response to the suit The judge clarified that he was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the allegations in the plaint against the Yoga Guru and the issue of grant of any relief interim or otherwise shall be looked into subsequentlyI have seen the video clips of Ramdev From the perusal of the video clips your client is scorning the allopathic treatment protocol He has literally gone to scorn at the prescription of steroids people going to hospitals From the perusal of the clips there is definitely a case for the institution of the suit They plaintiffs may have nothing for an injunction but the case is not frivolous the judge told senior counsel Rajiv Nayar appearing for RamdevThe senior lawyer said that while he had no objections to the issuance of summons in the matter he opposed the allegations made in the case There are three parts to the suit Coronil defamation and hesitancy against vaccination The court may restrict notice to only defamation Nayar urged the courtI am not passing any order You file your written statement Say there is no case the judge responded Permission to institute the suit is allowed Let the plaint be registered as a suit Let summons be issued in the suit the court ordered and posted the next hearing in January Apart from Ramdev the summons was also issued and a response ought from Acharya Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurveda on the suitThe court also issued notice to social media platforms Google Facebook and Twitter Three Resident Doctors Association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Rishikesh Patna and Bhubaneshwar as well as Association of Resident Doctors Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education amp Research Chandigarh Union of Resident Doctors of Punjab URDP Resident Doctors Association Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College Meerut and Telangana Junior Doctors Association Hyderabad had moved the high court earlier this yearThey alleged that Ramdev was misleading and misrepresenting to the public at large that allopathy was responsible for the deaths of several people infected by Covid19 and insinuating that allopathic doctors were causing the deaths of the patients Senior counsel Akhil Sibal representing the associations had argued that amid a pandemic the Yog Gugu made unsubstantiated claims on Coronil being a cure for Covid19 contrary to the licence granted to the drug for merely being an ImmunoboosterIn their plea filed through advocate Harshavardhan Kotla the associations had submitted that the yoga guru who is a highly influential person was sowing doubts in the minds of the general public concerning the safety and efficacy of not only allopathic treatments but also Covid19 vaccines The plea alleged that the misinformation campaign was nothing but an advertisement and marketing strategy to further the sales of the product sold by Ramdev including Coronil which claims to be an alternative treatment for Covid19Also Read Delhi High Court to hear pleas over recognition of samesex marriages on November 30Earlier this week the court had stated that the doctors plea deserved consideration and could not be thrown out at the first stage as at the present stage it needed to see if allegations in the plaint make out a case to be entertained The court had on June 3 issued summons to Ramdev on a separate plea by the Delhi Medical Association in connection with his alleged statements against allopathic medicines and claims regarding Patanjalis Coronil kit The court had refused to restrain Ramdev at that stage saying the allopathic profession was not so fragile It had however orally asked Ramdevs counsel to tell him not to make any provocative statementsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever