A bench of Justices MM Sundaresh and PB Varale, which was hearing Ramdev’s plea seeking stay on the criminal proceedings, said he would also have to include the complainants to get the relief.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed yoga guru Ramdev to implead the complainants in its plea. The Top court was hearing a plea filed by Ramdev seeking stay on criminal proceedings against them in cases filed against him in connection with his alleged comments against the use of allopathic medicines during the Covid pandemic have been registered.
The Patna and Raipur chapters of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed complaints in 2021, alleging that Ramdev’s comments could adversely impact the Covid containment mechanism and discourage people from seeking proper treatment.
A bench of Justices MM Sundaresh and PB Varale, which was hearing Ramdev’s plea seeking stay on the criminal proceedings, said he would also have to include the complainants to get the relief.
The bench allowed Ramdev to implead the complainants and scheduled the case for hearing beginning on May 20 after the summer vacation of the apex court.
The lawyer appearing for the Bihar government requested for time to file the reply. In his petition, Ramdev has named the Centre, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and IMA as parties, to which the apex court had issued notice to him on October 9 last year. Earlier, senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Ramdev, had said that several cases were filed against the yoga guru by doctors angry over his alleged statement on allopathic medicines in 2021.
Ramdev has not given any statement out of malice against anyone. Therefore, instructions should be given to stop criminal action in all cases.
In fact, IMA had filed a complaint in Bihar and Chhattisgarh on Ramdev’s comments on allopathic medicines during the Corona epidemic. FIRs were also registered against Ramdev under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Despite sparking a nationwide debate on allopathy versus Ayurveda, Ramdev withdrew his statements after receiving a letter from then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who considered his remarks “inappropriate”. Meanwhile, the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), requesting permission to join the case, has alleged that Ramdev insulted allopathy and instigated people to ignore vaccines and treatment protocols.