SC Asks Ramdev to Include Complainants in His Request to Stay Criminal Probes: ET HealthWorld

The Supreme Court has directed yoga guru Ramdev to include the complainants who filed cases against him for his alleged remarks against allopathic medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic as parties in his plea seeking the stay of criminal proceedings. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) chapters in Patna and Raipur accused Ramdev of making statements that could impact the COVID control mechanism and discourage people from seeking proper treatment.

During the hearing of Ramdev’s plea seeking a stay on criminal proceedings, a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale instructed him to involve the complainants in order to secure relief in the matter. The court granted Ramdev permission to include the complainants and postponed the hearing until after the summer vacation, starting on May 20.

Ramdev’s plea includes the Centre, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and IMA as parties, with the top court issuing notice to them on October 9, last year. Ramdev’s lawyer claimed that the yoga guru’s statement in 2021, expressing his disbelief in allopathic medicines, led to multiple cases being filed against him by offended doctors. Seeking an interim relief, Ramdev requested a stay on the investigation of the criminal complaints.

The IMA lodged complaints in Bihar and Chhattisgarh against Ramdev for his remarks against allopathic medicines, leading to his booking under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Disaster Management Act, 2005. Despite withdrawing his statements following a rebuke from the then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Ramdev faces additional backlash from the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), which accused him of insulting Allopathy and promoting vaccine hesitancy. The DMA, representing 15,000 doctors, also alleged that Patanjali, Ramdev’s company, made over Rs 1,000 crore by selling unapproved Coronil kits.