Pune court orders police probe against Ramdev's 'Coronil' claims

In a New Year jolt to Baba Ramdev a Pune court has ordered the police to investigate a criminal complaint against the yoga guru and his business associate Acharya Balkrishna who is Chairman of the consumer giant Patanjali Ayurved for their claims on their Covid19 cure medicine CoronilJunnar Courts Judicial Magistrate First Class P V Sapakals order came in a private criminal plea lodged by a studentactivist Madan Kurhe way back in June 2020 after the company had announced the purported cure to the deadly virus raging across the globeHe directed the Junnar Police Station to conduct a probe under the CrPCs Section 202 and submit its report to the court by February 7 said Kurhes lawyer Asim SarodeIn the complaint Kurhe had questioned Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurveds allegedly illegal and false claims in public about the purported medicine Coronil and trumpeting it as a cure for coronavirusThis was the first case filed during the height of the Covid19 pandemic lockdown period against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna and their company in Maharashtra for their allegedly misleading and bizarre claims pertaining to Coronil which was touted as a 100 percent cure medicineKurhe said that on June 24 2020 when the country reeled under the first wave of the pandemic he saw advertisements reports interviews of Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna claiming how they had developed an Ayurvedic cure for Covid19 and contended that the Covid19 symptomatic patients reportedly become asymptomatic within 315 days after consuming the ayurvedic formulation which had been tested in clinical trials in Delhi Uttar Pradesh and GujaratThe medicines were available in a corona kit priced at Rs 545 to be launched and sold all over India soon he saidSarode pointed out that three months earlier on April 21 2020 the Centres AYUSH Ministry had taken strong cognisance of all types of flybynight companies promising magical remedies for Covid19 and banned them from publicising or selling their alleged cures to the gullible masses without proper clinical evaluationsFollowing the uproar over Baba Ramdevs claims the ICMR and the AYUSH Ministry stepped in by countering Patanjali Ayurveds claims of having conducted clinical trials on its new Ayurvedic products Coronil and SwasariWhen the country was tottering under a major health crisis and the Coronavirus pandemic such false claims were made only with the intention to earn money from the fearstricken people of India argued SarodeThe magistrate said that although the media events of Baba Ramdev took place in Delhi which was out of the jurisdiction of the Junnar court but considering the nature of the offences the police would investigate the case before concluding if there is need to proceed further in the matterAfter the police report is received the Hon Junnar Court will decide whether to issue process in the matter against the accused Its a classic case that ensures nobody is above the law and all must use the freedom of expression with restrictions and responsibilities said SarodeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever