New Delhi: Delhi High Court refused to pass any interim order against Yoga guru Ramdev on Thursday saying that his statements against allopathy come within the parameters of right to freedom of speech and expression. Court has listed the matter for July 13 while issuing the summons in the case filed by Delhi Medical Association DMA) against Ramdev and other.
Justice C Hari Shankar said that the allopathic system is not so fragile that the organisation has to move the court. The court told the DMA, “You people should be interested in finding out ways to beat the pandemic, proceeding in interest of public health, rather than taking up court time and having litigations.”
“We have something called Article 19 (1) (a) in the country. If I feel particular science is fake and make a statement in the public domain that the science is fake, what is so actionable about it,” the court added.
Court termed Ramdev’s comments as “public opinion” while adding that “shackles” cannot put on such views and that any case seeking blockage of such statements has to be tested under the Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution.
The court said, “There is a right to air an opinion or to voice an opinion. Sometimes the opinion is, maybe, voiced in a terminology which may appear to be very offensive. Some people may be more vitriolic than others in the manner in which they express what they want to say. Someone may be more temperate. Someone may be more intemperate.”
The court also observed that there are protocols and institutions which check false medical claims and magic remedies. While adding that it cannot say Ramdev’s Patanjali product ‘Coronil’ is effective against COVID-19 or not as it is decided by the medical experts.
The court added, “The fact that people have taken allopathic medicine, it has worked in many people, maybe a majority of people, but there are people in whom it has not worked. Someone is there who has a view that it is because of the absolute inefficacy of the allopathic system of treatment that so many people have died. He airs that view on a public platform. I think that comes within the parameters of Article 19 1(a).”
Earlier the counsel representing DMA had said that Ramdev’s comments had affected the doctor community as he called science ‘fake’ in the middle of a pandemic which “ultimately will affect the health of the nation.”
The Court orally told Ramdev’s counsel, senior advocate Rajiv Nayar to tell his client to stop making provocative statements.
