Chhattisgarh police closes case against Baba Ramdev over remarks on allopathy

The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that Chhattisgarh police has filed a closure report in connection with a first information report (FIR) filed earlier against yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved founder Baba Ramdev over remarks he made during the COVID-19 pandemic against allopathic medicines [Swami Ram Dev vs. Union of India & Ors.]..The Court was hearing Ramdev’s petition seeking the clubbing of FIRs lodged across different States after his controversial comments drew widespread criticism. A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma was told today that the criminal proceedings in Chhattisgarh are being dropped by the police. However, a similar FIR in Bihar remains pending..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta added that such criminal proceedings were driven by vested interests rather than genuine grievances.“These FIRs are obviously sponsored by some interested groups,” he said.Meanwhile, Ramdev's counsel, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, pointed out that the closure report in the Chhattisgarh FIR had not yet been filed before the Court. He expressed apprehension that the case could be revived if a protest petition were filed by the complainant.“That has to be brought on record. Chhattisgarh, if the complainant is heard in a protest petition and that gets revived then again… it’s been pending, your lordships is protecting, it can be called after some time,” Dave said.The Court will hear the matter further in December, after the State of Bihar files its response..The controversy dates back to 2021, when Ramdev criticised doctors and mainstream medicine in a video that went viral. In the clip, he claimed that lakhs of people had died after taking allopathic medicines for COVID-19. Though he later withdrew the statement, it triggered multiple FIRs across States and drew sharp opposition from medical bodies.In 2022, the Supreme Court had pulled up Ramdev while hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association seeking to counter what it described as a smear campaign against modern medicine and COVID-19 vaccination. Around the same time, the Delhi High Court also restrained him from making misleading claims about allopathy in proceedings initiated by doctors’ associations..[BREAKING] Baba Ramdev moves Supreme Court against multiple FIRs against him in relation to comments on Allopathy's efficacy against COVID-19