‘Can’t Degrade Allopathy, Nobody Has Given Him This Right’, SC Judge Hima Kohli Slams Ramdev

Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli on Tuesday told yoga guru Swami Ramdev that to promote Ayurveda, he cannot malign other medicine systems and nobody has given him such rights. Justice Kohli also referred to Ramdev's claims regarding diseases which are incurable, saying that medicines manufactured for incurable diseases cannot be publicized and it is not permitted.

New Delhi : Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli on Tuesday strongly criticized yoga guru Swami Ramdev for degrading allopathy to promote Ayurveda and told him that “nobody has given him that right”, and made it clear that to support his claims regarding cure of diseases he would have to abide by the institutional arrangement.

A two-judge bench led by Justice Kohli told Ramdev, in Hindi, who was present in the court, “we are talking about your conduct and there is interdisciplinary medical committee of the Union of India, where he can submit his claims for cure for various diseases and by parading patients on the stage to support his claims, is not acceptable”

Justice Kohli said this happened after Ramdev’s counsel submitted in the court that he will not indulge in such activities. The apex court was upset about a press conference held by Ramdev on November 22, 2023 in Haridwar and an advertisement issued by the company on December 4, 2023 in alleged violation of an undertaking given by it on November 21, 2023, to refrain from doing so.

“To promote Ayurveda, you cannot malign other medicine systems. Nobody has given you that right and it happened despite your statement and court’s order…..you are before this court for breaching the court order and your undertaking”, said Justice Kohli. The undertaking was given following a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Ramdev replied that he agrees with the court’s observation and “we spoke about real world evidence and clinical evidence. We will be careful about it in future…”.

Justice Kohli told Ramdev about claims regarding diseases which are incurable. “You should know that medicines manufactured for incurable diseases can not be publicized and it is not permitted. Neither members of the IMA can do it nor any pharmaceutical company. Their treatment is done very carefully, as the disease cannot be cured. Is there any advertisement for such diseases in allopathy?”, Justice Kohli told Ramdev.

She added that if you have a cure for such diseases then approach the inter-disciplinary medical committee with the documents establishing your claims. “Going to the press…it is irresponsible…this country and its citizens have a lot of expectations from you….”, said Justice Kohli.

Ramdev said Justice Kohli is right that he has crores of followers and added, “from now I will be alert to this fact and I am not happy that such things happen…”. He stressed that it happened on impulse and in enthusiasm, “we never wanted to disrespect allopathy, and will not do in future”.

The bench emphasized that Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, who was also present in the courtroom, can continue to do their work but they cannot degrade allopathy and cannot raise fingers at others. “This is against the law…you should not say such things and just concentrate on your work”, said the bench. Ramdev said he will be 100 percent alert on issues raised by the court.

“You must have heard what your counsel said. You must be aware of proceedings happening in the court. Tomorrow, do not say that you were not aware of submissions made by your counsel in the court….such innocence does not work in the court”, said justice Kohli.

She added that Patanjali is worth many crores and there is a legal department and the court cannot accept this contention that they did not tell the publicity department that such ads should not be released.

Justice Kohli told Ramdev that the court cannot overlook the previous history, when the court orders were not followed, and “we have made up our mind not to accept his apology. You did it when the court ordered. You were not so innocent…this went from November, 2023, to February, 2024…”.

Balkrishna, managing director Patanjali, said Ramdev is not connected with Patanjali. Justice Kohli said but he is promoting Patanjali's products and his submissions before the court shows that there is no change of heart. “Change should happen from your conduct and not just by saying….”, Justice Kohli told Balkrishna. Ramdev said we have committed an error and we are tendering an apology.

Justice Kohli told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Ramdev and Balkrishna, that they are not off the hook. “We are dispassionate and objective…”, Justice Kohli told Rohatgi.

The bench, also comprising justice A Amanullah, in its order, said: “To redeem themselves and demonstrate…they propose to take some steps unilaterally….request one week time to revert on aforesaid aspect….”, and listed the matter for further hearing on April 23.

The apex court was hearing a plea by IMA against misleading advertisements published by Patanjali regarding cure of various diseases.

Read More

1. No Need To Go To Delhi To Crack UPSC, Says Civils 319th Ranker From Odisha Rashmi Pradhan