NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has directed yoga guru Ramdev to remove certain “objectionable” social media posts regarding the use of COVID-19 treatment ‘Coronil’. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said he would “allow” petitions filed by several medical associations against Ramdev.
“I am directing you to remove the posts and some of the content in question. I am directing the defendant to delete the series of tweets within three days,” the judge said. If Ramdev fails to comply, microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) will remove the content, the court added.
A copy of the order is awaited. The petition is part of a lawsuit filed by the doctors’ association against Ramdev, his associate Acharya Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved in 2021. Justice Bhambhani had reserved the order on May 21 after hearing arguments from the parties.
The lawsuit alleges that Ramdev made “unsubstantiated claims” that Coronil is a treatment for COVID-19, when the drug’s approval documents state that it is only an “immune enhancer.”
The petition was filed in the high court in 2021 by three resident associations of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Patna and Bhubaneswar, the Resident Association of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research Institute, Chandigarh, Union of Resident Doctors Punjab (URDP), Resident Association of Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College, Meerut and Telangana State Junior Doctors Association, Hyderabad.
They alleged misinformation campaigns and marketing strategies to promote the sale of Ramdev’s products, including ‘Coronil’, which they claimed was an alternative treatment for COVID-19. On October 27, 2021, the high court issued summons to Ramdev and others, saying the case was not frivolous and there was “undoubtedly” a reason to file suit. PTI
