Hearing deferred till Aug 30 on plea against Ramdev

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday deferred hearing till August 30 on a lawsuit by several doctors' associations over the use of Coronil and said that judicial propriety and discipline demanded that proceedings be restrained until there is some clarity concerning the pendency of allegedly similar issues before the Supreme Court.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani asked that a copy of the petition by the Indian Medical Association pending before the apex court be placed before the high court to enable it to take a call on whether there is any commonality and if it should proceed any further.

Judicial discipline demands that I restrain further proceedings in the matter till they (defendants) get some clarity (from the Supreme Court) . I will ask them to file a copy of the Supreme Court petition on the record here. I will defer the proceedings today, judge said.

Several doctors' associations moved the high court last year, alleging that Ramdev was misleading and misrepresenting to the public at large that allopathy was responsible for the deaths of several people infected by COVID-19 while claiming that Patanjali's Coronil was a cure for the virus.

Senior advocate Akhil Sibal, appearing for the plaintiff associations, said that while he was not aware of the contents of the plea before the top court, there was no order of stay and the matter here required some urgency on account of public interest.