Baba Ramdev gets Rs 1000 crore defamation notice for remarks on allopathy

The Indian Medical Association had on Saturday sent a legal notice to yoga guru Ramdev over his alleged statements against allopathy and "defaming" scientific medicine.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has slapped yoga guru Swami Ramdev with a Rs 1,000 crore defamation notice for his controversial remarks about allopathy,  scientific medicine and their use in treating COVID-19.

The defamation notice to Baba Ramdev has been issued by the Uttarakhand chapter of the IMA – the apex body of Indian doctors.

The IMA notice states that if Ramdev doesn't post a video countering the statements given by him and tender a written apology within the next 15 days, then a sum of Rs 1,000 crore will be demanded from him.

It may be recalled that the IMA had earlier raised strong objections to Baba Ramdev's controversial remarks and demanded strict action against him. IMA state unit, President Dr Ajay Khanna said that a letter has been sent to the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary in this regard.

"In the letter, it is written that there is a lot of resentment among the IMA doctors against the statement of Baba Ramdev. The Union Health Minister has also sent a notice to Ramdev on the same stating that the statement is considered incorrect", Dr Khanna said.

He added that the state government should take strict action against Swami Ramdev immediately. A defamation notice is also being sent to Ramdev on behalf of the IMA, informed Dr Ajay Khanna.

"In addition to a defamation case that will be filed soon, an FIR will also be lodged, if the government did not take concrete action on the same", he said. After courting the controversy, Baba Ramdev has withdrawn his statements on allopathic medicine. He has also received a strong-worded letter from Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who called his remarks "inappropriate".

"We do not oppose modern medical science and allopathy. We believe that allopathy has shown immense progress in surgery and the lifesaving system and served humanity. My statement has been quoted as part of a WhatsApp message that I was reading during a meeting of volunteers. I am sorry if it has hurt anyone`s sentiment," Ramdev mentioned in his letter to the Union Health Minister in Hindi.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had on Saturday sent a legal notice to yoga guru Ramdev over his alleged statements against allopathy and "defaming" scientific medicine. 

However, the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust has denied allegations by the IMA that Ramdev has misled people by making "unlearned" statements against allopathy and defamed scientific medicine.

"IMA brings to the notice of our Health Minister, a video circulating in social media portraying, the celebrated Yoga Guruji saying that ‘modern allopathy ek aisi stupid aur diwaliya science hai’ (modern allopathy is a stupid and failed science)," the association said in its statement.

In Ramdev's defence, the Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust said, Yoga Guru was reading out a WhatsApp forwarded message in the video that has gone viral on social media.