Delhi High Court Reserves Order on Doctors’ Lawsuit Against Ramdev’s ‘Coronil’ Claim, India

New Delhi, May 21 – The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on a plea by several doctors’ associations against yoga exponent Ramdev over his alleged unsubstantiated claim about ‘Coronil’ being a cure for COVID-19 and not just an immunity booster. The plea forms part of a 2021 lawsuit by doctors’ associations against the yoga guru, his aide Acharya Balkrishna, as well as Patanjali Ayurveda founded by Ramdev, and seeks an interim relief of removal of statements from various media platforms with respect to the claim. According to the lawsuit, Ramdev made unsubstantiated claims about ‘Coronil’ being a cure for COVID-19, contrary to the license granted to the drug for merely being an immuno-booster. The senior counsel for the plaintiffs also sought a direction to restrain the defendants from making further similar statements. Ramdev’s senior lawyer indicated compliance with an undertaking given in the Supreme Court concerning advertisements of Patanjali products and expressed willingness to make a similar statement in the high court. The plaintiffs’ senior lawyer urged the court to pass an order on the interim application, stating that the undertaking before the apex court was with regard to not making causal statements not compliant with the law. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani reserved the order, noting the specific instances brought before him. Three Resident Doctors’ Associations of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Rishikesh, Patna and Bhubaneswar, as well as other medical associations, had initially moved the high court against Ramdev and others in 2021. Allegations include campaigning misinformation to boost sales of products like ‘Coronil’, sowing doubts in the minds of the public about the efficacy of allopathic treatments and COVID-19 vaccines. The high court had previously issued summons to Ramdev and others in response to the lawsuit.