Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that the Chhattisgarh Police had filed a closure report in a case registered over alleged remarks by Baba Ramdev criticising allopathy.
Mehta told a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and S C Sharma that the complaints leading to the FIRs — in Chattisgarh and Bihar — were “obviously” lodged by “sponsored” persons.
The bench, which was hearing his plea for clubbing of FIRs, said that the prayer does not survive as after the closure of the Chhattisgarh case, only the Bihar one remained.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Ramdev, said that criminal proceedings may be revived if the complainant files a protest petition but the bench said that there will be no coercive action. He also urged the court to ascertain the status of the Bihar matter before it decides to dispose of the matter.
The court adjourned the hearing till December.
Dave requested the court to record the SGs submission in its order but the bench declined.
The cases against Ramdev dates back to the days of the Covid-19 pandemic when he allegedly made critical remarks about adverse effects of relying on modern medicine for treatment.
This led to the initiation of legal proceedings with the Patna and Raipur chapters of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) lodging complaints alleging that his comments were likely to prejudice the Covid control protocols.
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The IMA also initiated proceedings against Ramdev before the Supreme Court, accusing him of issuing misleading advertisements and disparaging allopathy.
In the course of the proceedings, Patanjali Ayurved, of which Ramdev is founder, assured the court that it would refrain from making such statements or issuing such advertisements.
But the next day, he held a press conference in Haridwar, allegedly violating the undertaking.
The top court then issued a contempt notice to Ramdev and Patanjali Managing Director Balkrishna for flouting the undertaking.
