The Delhi Police on Wednesday told a district court that an FIR could not be registered against Patanjali Ayurved Limited, Ramdev and others on the charge of cheating people by claiming a cure for Covid-19 due to jurisdictional and other issues.
The Vasant Vihar police station SHO said this in an action-taken report filed in the court in response to a plea that sought court directions to register a case against Ramdev and others.
Petitioner Tushar Anand had claimed that Ramdev and other persons “only had permission to make an immunity booster but they are making a false claim in the media that they have found a cure for Covid-19”.
In the report, Sub-Inspector Pankaj Kumar said: “As the alleged press conference by Baba Ramdev was organised at Haridwar in Uttarakhand, the same does not lie within the area or jurisdiction of Vasant Vihar police station, New Delhi. Hence, no action can be initiated by the police of Vasant Vihar PS.”
It further submitted that an FIR under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code has already been registered at the police station in Jyoti Nagar in Jaipur on the same grounds as levelled by the applicant in his complaint, refusing to register his complaint.
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“It is also pertinent to mention here that the Ayush Ministry has allowed the sale of Patanjali’s ‘Coronil’ as an immunity booster and not as a coronavirus cure. If there are allegations of violation of the guidelines of the Ayush Ministry, the complainant may approach the agency concerned,” the status report added.
The applicant had sought lodging of the FIR under Sections 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous), 420 (cheating) and 504 (intentionally insults with intent to provoke break of public peace) of the IPC and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Drugs and Magic Remedies Act in the matter.
“The accused have shown their mala-fide intentions, which are likely to spread an infection that is dangerous to life by misrepresenting and alluring innocent consumers to buy the medicine with a belief of getting cured from the deadly Covid-19,” the petitioner had averred.
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On June 23, Patanjali Ayurved launched ‘Coronil’ tablet and Swasari Vati medicine with the claim that these could cure Covid-19 within seven days. On July 1, the Ayush Ministry permitted Patanjali to sell Coronil as long as it was advertised as an immunity booster and not a ‘coronavirus cure’.
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