Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: August 18, 2022 at 17:11 IST
In the case of Resident Doctors Association, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh and Ors v. Ram Kishan Yadav Alias Swami Ramdev and Ors, the Delhi High Court expressed concern over Baba Ramdev’s remarks questioning the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine and highlighting how US President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 despite taking the Covid vaccine.
Such statements, according to Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, can affect Ayurveda’s reputation as well as our country’s relations with other countries.
The single judge said that because Ayurveda is a well-established and revered medical system, its good name shouldn’t be destroyed.
The judge said,
“One, I am concerned about the good name of ayurveda not being destroyed. It is a recognised, respected, and ancient system of medicine. The second is that people are being named, here. It can affect our country’s relations with other countries. World leaders are being named which will affect our good relations with them,”.
Ramdev in the video claims that the fact that Biden tested positive demonstrates the failure of medical science, which is just 50 years old and has only been destroying the world (tabahi macha rakhi hai duniya me).
The case before the court dealt with claims of public nuisance and misrepresentation made by Ramdev for remarks he made about allopathic medicine and doctors while advertising his own tablet, Coronil.
During the previous hearing, Justice Bhambhani had allowed the parties some time to work things out and asked that Patanjali and Ramdev provide a better explanation of their claims regarding Coronil.
Sibal began his arguments as the two sides were unable to reach an understanding and stated that Ramdev made the August 4 remark, despite the fact that the case was still pending in court and the parties were attempting to reach a settlement amicably.
Kapur refuted the claims and asserted that Ramdev’s statements were made before the hearing’s date. He claimed that they have already started the process of taking down the information from their website that promotes Coronil as a treatment for COVID.
Sibal concluded making his submissions today, while Kapur will start on Tuesday.
The Court declared that it will conduct daily hearings in the case, if required.