Delhi HC reserves order on doctors' plea against Ramdev over Coronil
New Delhi, May 21: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday 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 licence granted to the drug for merely being an “immuno-booster”.
The senior counsel appearing for the plaintiffs also sought a direction to restrain the defendants from making further similar statements.
Ramdev's senior lawyer said he was bound by the undertaking given in the Supreme Court in the case concerning advertisements of Patanjali products, adding that he was willing to make a similar statement in the high court as well.
The plaintiffs' senior lawyer, however, 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" that are not in compliance with the law.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said the matter before him concerned "specific instances" and reserved the order.
Three Resident Doctors' Association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Rishikesh, Patna and Bhubaneswar as well as Association of Resident Doctors, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh; Union of Resident Doctors of Punjab (URDP); Resident Doctors' Association, Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College, Meerut, and Telangana Junior Doctors' Association, Hyderabad had moved the high court in 2021 against Ramdev and others.
In their lawsuit filed through advocate Harshavardhan Kotla, the associations have submitted that the yoga guru, who is a highly influential person, was sowing doubts in the minds of the general public about the safety and efficacy of not only allopathic treatments but also COVID-19 vaccines.
They alleged that the "misinformation" campaign was nothing but an advertisement and marketing strategy to further the sales of the product sold by Ramdev, including 'Coronil', which he claimed to be an alternative treatment for COVID-19.
On October 27, 2021, the high court had issued summons to Ramdev and others on the lawsuit, saying it was not a frivolous matter and a case was “definitely” made out for its institution.
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'Key operator' of international gold smuggling racket brought to India from UAE: CBI
New Delhi, Sep 10: A key operator of an international gold smuggling racket with an Interpol Red Notice against him was brought from the UAE on Tuesday in an operation coordinated by the CBI with the NIA and Interpol, officials said.
Muniyad Ali Khan is the third fugitive in the case who was successfully brought back to India, they said.
Khan landed at the Jaipur airport from the UAE and was arrested by the NIA, the officials said.
In the case probed by the NIA, it was alleged that Khan had conspired in the illegal smuggling of gold bars from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, into India along with other accused, a CBI spokesperson said here.
Two co-accused in the case, Shokat Ali and Mohabbat Ali, were brought from Saudi Arabia on April 03, 2024 and August 17, 2023, respectively in an operation coordinated by the Global Operations Centre of the CBI with Interpol NCB-Riyadh and the NIA.
It is alleged that Khan along with the co-accused had provided gold bars to be smuggled from Riyadh into Jaipur.
Gold bars weighing 18.56 kilograms worth Rs 9 crore in the market were seized while being smuggled into the country at the Jaipur airport from Saudi Arabia in 2020 as part of the "criminal conspiracy to derail the country's economic security and monetary stability", the NIA said in a statement on August 17, 2023.
The bars had been concealed inside a battery of emergency lights for smuggling into India, the statement had said.
"He (Khan) is involved in international gold smuggling from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Jaipur, India. The subject was charge-sheeted by the NIA on March 22, 2021, before the NIA Special Court, Jaipur. He was wanted for criminal conspiracy for offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," the spokesperson said.
The CBI got a Red Notice issued against Khan from Interpol on September 13, 2021, at a request of the NIA which was circulated to all law enforcement agencies globally for tracking of the wanted criminal.
The Red Notice resulted in locating Khan in the UAE.
"The CBI as National Central Bureau for Interpol in India coordinates closely with all law enforcement agencies in India for cooperation over Interpol channels," he said.
