The Supreme Court was on Tuesday informed that a closure report has been filed by Chhattisgarh Police in a case over yoga guru Ramdev’s alleged remarks against the use of allopathic medicines during the Covid pandemic.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta brought the development to the notice of Justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma. Mehta said the complaints against Ramdev appeared to have been “sponsored” by some interested groups.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Ramdev, said in line with the previous directions, Chhattisgarh filed its response, but Bihar had yet to do so. The bench then adjourned the matter for December.
Previously, the complainants were asked to be impleaded as parties in his plea seeking a stay of the criminal proceedings. The Patna and Raipur chapters of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) lodged complaints in 2021 alleging Ramdev’s remarks were likely to cause prejudice to the Covid control mechanism and may dissuade people from availing proper treatment. Ramdev impleaded the Centre, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and IMA as parties. Dave earlier said his client made a statement in 2021 that he does not believe in allopathic medicines, to which some doctors took offence and lodged multiple cases against him.
As an interim relief, Ramdev sought a stay on the investigation into the criminal complaints. The IMA lodged complaints in Bihar and Chhattisgarh over Ramdev’s remarks against the use of allopathic medicines during the pandemic. The yoga guru was booked under various provisions of the IPC and the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Ramdev, whose statements stirred a nationwide debate on Allopathy versus Ayurveda, had, however, withdrawn them after receiving a letter from then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who called his remarks “inappropriate”.
The Delhi Medical Association (DMA), meanwhile, sought permission to become a party to the case, alleging that Ramdev insulted Allopathy and “instigated” people to disregard vaccines and treatment protocols.
The DMA, having 15,000 doctors as members, claimed Ramdev’s Patanjali earned over Rs 1,000 crore by selling “Coronil” kits, which were not approved by the competent authority.
