Delhi HC Orders Ramdev to File Affidavit Stating He Won't Use Communal Slurs
The Wire Staff
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday (May 2) directed self-styled spiritual leader and Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev to file an affidavit undertaking that he shall not issue any statements, social media posts or disparaging videos/advertisements with communal slurs to target competitor companies.
Ramdev's counsel senior advocate Rajiv Nayar produced affidavits which he said will be filed in court.
"Mr. Nayar submits that the defendants are willing to file an undertaking in terms of paragraph 18 of the order dated April 22. Copy of the affidavit has been given to the counsel for the plaintiff. Let the same be filed during the course of the day," said Justice Amit Bansal in his order, reported Bar and Bench.
The court was hearing the plea of Hamdard National Foundation after it moved court against Ramdev’s comment that the company was leading a “sharbat jihad”. Ramdev had made this comment in an effort to promote his company Patanjali’s own concentrated squash.
Hindutva leaders, politicians from the Bharatiya Janata Party and mainstream news channels have attempted to stitch ‘jihad’ to almost everything – land, love, and economy – in an effort to point to non-existent conspiracies by Muslims to convert people into Islam.
Previously, Ramdev had told the Delhi high court that advertisements his company had published against Hamdard National Foundation India’s Rooh Afza product will be taken down.
While promoting his company’s product, Ramdev had also indicated that the money earned from Hamdard’s Rooh Afza was used to build madrasas and mosques.
Later, Ramdev claimed he had not named any brands.
On April 22, Justice Bansal had slammed Ramdev for the videos, observing that the Patanjali founder's remarks were indefensible and shocked the court's conscience.
"I could not believe my eyes and ears when I saw this [videos]," Justice Bansal had said.
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