Ramdev asks SC to club FIRs over remarks criticising doctors, COVID vaccines: What we know so far

Yoga guru Ramdev has moved the Supreme Court seeking to club multiple FIRs filed against him for his uncharitable remarks against allopathy and doctors, according to several media reports. This after, he had criticised doctors and allopathy over the treatment of COVID-19 and also questioned the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. In his petition, Ramdev has also sought protection from coercive actions in FIRs filed by the Indian Medical Association’s Patna and Raipur wings. According to reports, the yoga guru, who is also the face of the FMCG brand Patanjali, had claimed an infringement of his fundamental rights and also sought the transfer of the cases to Delhi. What are these cases against Ramdev? Multiple cases have been filed against Ramdev for his remarks on allopathy, doctors and COVID-19 vaccines. Of them, two have gained attention as those have been filed by the regional chapters of the Indian Medical Association.

The IMA and Ramdev have been at loggerheads over COVID-19 treatment for quite some time.

The Raipur case  According to PTI, last week, the Police in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur registered an FIR against Ramdev for allegedly spreading “false” information about the medicines being used by the medical fraternity for the treatment of COVID-19. The case was filed on 16 June night against Ramkrishna Yadav alias Ramdev alias Baba Ramdev based on a complaint filed by the Chhattisgarh’s unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). According to the police, Dr Rakesh Gupta, IMA’s Raipur president and chairman of Hospital Board IMA (CG), and Vikas Agrawal were among the doctors who had lodged a complaint against Ramdev in Raipur. Ramdev has been booked under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and others of the IPC and provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005, he said. As per the complaint, since over the last one year, Ramdev has been allegedly propagating false information and his threatening statements on social media against medicines being used by the medical fraternity, Government of India, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other frontline organisations in the treatment of coronavirus infection. There are several videos of him on social media in which he had allegedly made such misleading remarks, the complaint had said. An initial investigation by the Chhattisgarh Police found that Ramdev’s statements “amount to a violation of the notification of the Chhattisgarh government dated 13 March, 2020”, PTI reported. The notification states that no person/institution/organisation will use any print or electronic media for information regarding COVID-19 without prior permission of the state’s Health Department. This is to avoid the spread of any rumour or unauthenticated information regarding COVID-19. Ramdev has been allegedly misleading people about established and approved treatment methods, the complaint said. The Bihar case  The second case was filed by a Patna branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) under sections of the Epidemics Act and the Disaster Management Act, also over the derogatory comments made by the Patanjali co-founder over allopathy and doctors. According to a report in The Times of India, the Bihar branch of the IMA had asked all its 105 chapters in 38 districts to file separate cases against the Patanjali co-founder for his alleged remarks against doctors and allopathy. There are 13 branches of the IMA in Patna alone. The Bihar chapter of the IMA had lamented that Ramdev’s remarks on the allopathic method of COVID-19 treatment, administration of oxygen to severe patients and COVID-19 vaccines have “created an environment of doubt and suspicion in the society”. According to PTI, a petition filed before a court in Patna had dubbed Ramdev’s utterances as “fraudulent”, and sought the invoking of IPC sections pertaining to sedition and cheating besides the Disaster Management Act.