The Delhi High Court has directed Patanjali Ayurved and its promoters, including Co-founder Baba Ramdev, to remove claims attributing the deaths of numerous people during the COVID-19 pandemic to allopathy doctors, while promoting Patanjali’s Coronil as a “cure”.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani issued an interim order prohibiting Ramdev, his associate Acharya Balkrishna, and Patanjali Ayurved from making such allegations.
Reports quoted the judge saying, “I have directed the defendants to take down certain tweets in three days, if they fail to do it, the social media intermediaries will take down the content.”
The Court found Ramdev’s actions in attributing the numerous COVID deaths to allopathic doctors to be “egregious”. Additionally, the Court deemed the labeling of Patanjali tablets as Coronil to be a misrepresentation, which is prohibited under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The Bench emphasised that permitting Ramdev and Patanjali to promote and advertise Coronil could jeopardize public safety and potentially tarnish the reputation of Ayurveda.
Justice Bhambhani said that the statements were made during a time when people were particularly vulnerable due to the pandemic, making them more susceptible to accepting whatever was presented by Ramdev and his associates.
The Delhi High Court was handling a defamation case brought against Patanjali and its promoters by several medical associations. These include the Resident Doctors’ Association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh, Patna, and Bhubaneswar; the Association of Resident Doctors at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research in Chandigarh; the Union of Resident Doctors of Punjab (URDP); the Resident Doctors’ Association at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in Meerut; and the Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association in Hyderabad.
